Don't Underestimate me!
by readme-silly
Summary: As Naruto returned from the mission in Wave, he realized he had let his false goofy personality take him over. He must redeem himself in his eyes and everyone else's or forever be the fool to them. For those who were following, it's been renovated.
1. A personality crisis

A.N:The basis of the story just changed. Naruto's underperformance in Wave weighs heavily on him and he feels the need to restore his dignity and remind himself of who he really is.

Disclaimer: We all know that there's no way I could ever own Naruto.

Chapter 1: A personality crisis

Team seven set out for home immediately Tazuna's bridge was completed. The gennin had all experienced a new side to the shinobi world that involved more death than glory as opposed to what each of them had believed when they first left Konoha. Each one was lost in their thoughts as they leapt through the canopies in great speed towards Konoha.

'I was weak.' was one of the thoughts that ran through the dark haired boy's mind. 'Naruto was able to beat that hunter-nin on his own when I couldn't.'

Sasuke was mad that Naruto, who was always and would always be inferior to him, had been able to defeat an opponent that had bested him.  
>Of course, he was able to convince himself that he had already significantly weakened the hunter-nin to the extent that even the deadlast could have taken him on, but that wasn't enough for him.<br>He was Uchiha Sasuke! The best of the best! He had dominated those weaklings at the academy and had nearly gotten the upper hand in a one on one fight against Kakashi, an elite jounin. Dammit! He should have been stronger, faster! How could he hope to catch up to his brother, who had a perfect record, when he himself was stained with failure!

For a second, a malicious look came over him as he looked at Naruto, who was traveling right behind him from the corner of his eye. The blond sported a wide grin on his face, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

'That idiot, he nearly got me killed! And Haruno, she was completely useless during the whole mission! As long as I remain on this team, I'll always be held back!'

Though he held close to nothing but indifference for his two teammates, he had a slightly more hostile attitude towards them than his jounin-sensei. At least the man had been good for something.  
>Kakashi, on the second to last day before the fight on the bridge, while the dobe was out pointlessly running up trees and throwing his kunai at them in the name of training, taken Sasuke aside and carefully instructed him on how to augment his speed with his chakra, which he could now control more easily thanks to the tree climbing training which he had already completed.<p>

He had explained then that this was the true purpose of teaching them the chakra control exercise, which on its own would be of no real help against someone like Zabuza. He didn't want to teach Naruto and Sakura because he didn't think they were ready for it, but he showed them the exercise all the same so as not to seem unfair.

Sasuke couldn't have cared less that Kakashi didn't feel like teaching the dobe and the useless fangirl. It was already clear to him that they weren't even worthy to hold the title of gennin. Still, he wasn't so caught up in his arrogance that he hadn't realized then that Kakashi had been using an excuse to shower him with attention while he neglected those that really needed his help, all the while considering that he was doing them a favor by not including them in the battle to come. After all, would it really have been so hard for someone who'd copied over a thousand techniques to give them something useful to work on?

lool

The said jounin was not having easy thoughts either. Sasuke had nearly been killed on that mission. He had nearly failed to protect Obito's legacy! To make it worse, Naruto had somehow tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra after interfering with the fight that Kakashi still believed that Sasuke would have been able to win with a last minute trick had he not had to shield Naruto with his body.

If Naruto had not released the youki after defeating the hunter-nin, he would have been forced to end his life then and there, as he had clearly lost control and would be a danger to his teammates. Though he held no animosity towards him(not much anyway) he knew his duty, and why the gaki had been assigned on his team. If push came to shove, he would have carried out his duty without remorse and annihilated the threat immediately.

It was a good thing perhaps, that the boy had the uncanny ability to change people's opinions for the better, for it was the blond's words that spurred on Zabuza to kill Gato and take down with him a few of the ronin they would have had to fight. He still wasn't sure if he would have been able to explain the deaths or grevious injuries of his first gennin team on a supposedly C-rank mission.

Well, least Sakura had escaped the fight mostly unscathed. Not that she did much to help.

At the thought of his third student, he sighed in the realization that despite her reputation as one of the best kunoichi from the academy, she hadn't proved ready to get stronger. He really did have high hopes for her, but that had been shattered when she revealed herself as to be a die-hard fangirl. The mission outside the village was supposed to bring out her serous, hardworking side. Alas, as of now the best purpose she served was that of hopefully supporting the Uchiha scion enough that he didn't give in to his hatred of his brother. Kami knew the boy needed all the friends he could get. The one-sided rivalry between him and Naruto was just not enough, and he needed a real friend sooner or later. If only the girl could shove aside her petty crush and be the supportive friend she needed.

lool

Sakura, not surprisingly, was busy building castles in the air as she subconsciously pulsed chakra through her legs to jump from one tree branch to the next. They were scheduled to arrive at Konoha before nightfall and she needed to make the most of her time remaining right?. Unfortunately, she wasn't thinking of anything constructive towards her career, which was pretty stupid considering she'd played backseat throughout the mission. Instead, she was of the mindset that Sasuke's near-death experience had brought them both closer together, which to her meant that she was getting closer to bagging him. Even though the logical part of her brain was screaming at her to get serious or she would get herself killed someday, the warnings fell on deaf ears.

The misguided girl was imagining that they would be beset upon by bandits on the way back who would overpower Kakashi through luck until Sasuke fought them off to protect her, at which point her genius teammate would turn around and confess his growing feelings for her. And then they would find out they had to share a tent for the night due to lack of a spare... A lustful grin spread over her face as she quickly wiped away the trickle of blood coming from her nose before anyone could notice.

Oh, the possibilities were endless. And best of all was when the scenarios were happening infront of Ino-pig, who was throwing a tantrum, having been forced to settle for the short, clumsy and (to her knowledge) ugly Naruto.

She turned her head to spy on her temporarily forgotten teammate who had just happened to slip slightly on a piece of wet moss on a branch, nearly toppling over in the process. That baka still thought he could be a good ninja. True, she had found a few of his jokes and pranks from the academy to be funny(not that she'd ever admit it), but that was the extent of his good qualities.

The boy had next to zero talent as a shinobi.

He was destined to be nothing more than a jester whose job was to entertain the king and queen of the court, which meant herself and Sasuke. Zabuza's speeches on the real world of ninja was an eye-opener to her. She was confident that by using her highly gifted brain she could defend herself if need be and a part of her, albeit a teensy, tiny part of her felt really sorry for her loyal jester who would get himself killed sooner or later. The idiot was probably thinking about ramen right now.

lool

Naruto wasn't thinking about ramen at all. Infact, it was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. Right now, he was furious with himself. How long would he keep up this charade? How long would he pretend to be the fool to try and gain acknowledgment?

He couldn't even remember the last time he had dropped the facade for more than two seconds. He didn't know how it happened, but apparently the alternate personality he had built as his shield for all the pain and loneliness in his mind had slowly become a part of himself. Not completely, thank Kami! But enough that it no longer served him and only hindered him.

He had let himself go completely. Five minutes into the fight with Haku and he had been winded as though he had run a marathon for the better part of the day. Five minutes! He of the reputed god-like stamina and endless pool of chakra! He knew what had happened, oh yes he did. His mask had placed mental limiters on himself to make him think he was tiring when he really wasn't.

Come to think of it, he should have noticed the signs earlier on. Sasuke had kept up with him while training, even coming close to outlasting him! The kunai practices he had developed to help with his aim were all sloppy and practically useless and they only seemed to tire him more. All the while he had thought that he was really doing something useful. Aaargh! It was so frustrating to know that your own body was against you!

Caught in his internal rage, he failed to notice the moss until he slipped on it. He saw Sakura looking at him disdainfully, as though he amounted to nothing more than a bug in her eyes. He nearly screamed out at her but was able to hold himself in check just in time.

'What was that?' he thought. Had he really fallen that far? To the point that Sakura outgrew her dependence on his attention to support herself? To the point he was easily roused and quick to anger? His face turned white. 'Kami, I've really lost it, haven't I?' He hadn't nearly lost his temper like that in ages!  
>'What the hell's happening to me?' This was really serious. He was not supposed to take it that far, but he had. He had fallen in the eyes of everyone. He had fallen in his own eyes. Sasuke had nearly died shielding him. That was a mark he was never going to erase his soul or his dignity.<p>

That wasn't all there was. 'What does Kakashi-sensei think of me now?' Naruto frowned when he remembered.

He had seen the jounin's lone eye looking at him in what seemed like great disappointment when they had gone to a private location to address the issue of the Kyuubi's chakra. Even with all his assurances that he wouldn't fly off the handle again, he was still regarded with wariness and it made him sick. Wasn't he ever going to get away from those damn eyes? Was he condemned to be something less than human all his life?

'What have I done to myself?' He was just about to fall into a melancholic state when he heard the voice,

"You are Uzumaki Naruto, and my precious student."

Iruka's words were like a beacon in the dark and they guided his thoughts back to their usual doubt-free nature. If he wasn't gripping the shoulder straps of his pack he would have slapped himself upside the head. 'What am I thinking! Iruka-sensei told me that night. He believes in me!'

How could he forget who he was. His faux self had almost succeeded in crippling confidence, and all because he believed he had failed others who, like the rest didn't care much about his well-being. He had never needed them before, and they would NOT have a stake in his life now. The few precious people he had were more than enough. Why should he weep and feel sorry for himelf? He was Uzumaki Naruto!

And would make sure everyone knew that.

lool

His bright blue eyes burned with such determination for a moment that Sakura, who had chanced to take another glance at him, faltered in her step when she saw the near-blazing orbs.

She was about to berate him for ruining her perfect daydream when she saw the side of him that had rarely showed itself in all the years she knew him, the side that made her think he really could do what he boasted he could, the side that gave her burning, near-infinite confidence during that first fight with Zabuza when he had blown away all their expectations of him as if they were nothing but petty gnats in the face of his will.

Her symbolic acceptance of Naruto as the jester was crushed into fragments smaller than dust as she looked at him with wide eyes. She couldn't help but think, 'Is this Naruto the real one that's been hiding from us all this time?'

She was closer to the truth than she knew.

So great were the feelings his steady gaze on the way ahead invoked that Sakura could have sworn that before her was a Kage in disguise that had fooled them all.  
>'Naruto,'<p>

Up ahead of her, Kakashi and Sasuke remained unaware and were racing onward in single minded intensity, completely focused on their movements and surroundings.

'How can they not feel it?', she wondered as the blond seemed to light a path before him.

Just as suddenly as the feeling had come, it vanished, and any traces that it had even been there were gone. Naruto's now normal carefree grin was back in its place and Sakura found herself suddenly shut away from any and all access to his emotions, a pitiful drape blocking the sunlight that must have been his true self.

She now felt extremely ashamed at herself for instantly pegging Naruto as a worthless being when in all his glory he could outshine even her beloved. In truth, she didn't even know anything about him, having never really bothered to waste her time with the dirty little orphan urchin boy. She was confused about this as it now felt as if what had just happened was nothing more than a dream that she had awoken from.

She was still a bit dazed when she stole a look at the side of her crush's noble and expressionless face and it was as if she fell in love with him all over again. 'Right, where was I?'

Forgetting completely about Naruto, she resumed her pasttime of imagining wedding scenarios of herself and the one infront of her. Whatever had just happened with the orange wearing baka must've been her imagination acting up, though the little worm of doubt inside her was still there. 'I suppose I'll sleep on it later.'

lool

Naruto was oblivious of the pink haired gennin's reaction to his rediscovered fire. He was busy planning how rigorously he would train himself once he got back to Konoha. It had been years since he seriously trained and his body now ached longingly for the familiar pain and satisfaction of working himself into the ground for days on end only to get up and start all over again. For once, the damnable kitsune would be of use to him while he was catching up on the years he had lost pining away for attention.

He would show them all who Uzumaki Naruto really was!

Author back: This story is undergoing a complete make-over now that I've realized the potential it has. Thanks to those reviewing and if you have any good ideas for me I'd love to hear them. Spread the word, Don't Underestimate Me! has been renovated and will feature all-new originality(well, as much as you can get when 3m+ others are thinking up their own stories, lol)

No, there is no NaruSaku or infact Naru- anything until after Sasuke's betrayal(which is inevitable), when I plan to take a short break from writing. Any pairings you see are from your own imagination(no offense). So that you know I'm serious, I've rewritten this first chapter and now that it's a smidget longer I'll soon after post the second one. More on my musings after the second chapter.


	2. The Springtime of Taijutsu

A.N: I'm actually enjoying correcting my mistakes and I won't rush the chapters anymore. For those who don't know yet, the first chapter has been renovated and the rest will undergo their own make-over. BTW, Naruto's training will be featured in as many as five more chapters where there will be little side stories to spice things up a bit. More musing at the end of this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto works, you know, with the forms an' the rights an' the storyline an' …Aww! Y'all know what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Chapter Two: The Springtime of Taijutsu

Naruto discovered a new unknown when he woke up just before dawn the next day.  
>He was NOT a morning person.<p>

The conclusion was reached as he had to literally, by his own collar, drag himself out of bed hours before first light to begin his morning rituals and head out for the intense workout he'd planned the previous night immediately they got back to Konoha. Kakashi had given them the day off and he planned to make full use of it.

Naruto cursed his too-accurate clock for failing to inexplicably break down during the night and let him sleep in some more, and for a good fifteen minutes he found himself developing a jutsu to spontaneously combust objects through intense glaring. Pity it didn't work, that could actually have been extremely useful sometime.

He looked a very comical sight as he stumbled into his shower, what with his gummy eyes trying to betray their owner and close in on themselves, dried up drool that had trickled down the corner of his eyes as he slept and VERY disheveled t-shirt and boxers that belied the unrest he had experienced in his sleep. The night cap drawn over his hair added to the effect really well.

It only took about half an hour for Naruto to finish up showering and brushing his teeth and the sun looked to be peeking up over the distant Hokage Monument which could be seen from his window. Coincidentally, it was highlighting the Fourth's head really well and he couldn't help but wonder if the Yondaime was a natural blond. The color suited him well. The gennin soon found himself debating whether he wanted to wear the ridiculous orange jacket and pants that signified his alter-ego and ultimately decided to forgo them whenever he was going training.

'I can't let everyone know just yet...' he thought as he rummaged around in his small closet for something else he could wear. 'What the hell! Don't I have anything else? Alright, soon as I'm ready to come out, I'm going shopping!'

It was mostly an excuse to spend all the money he'd been saving since he was a kid, but hey, he needed a treat once in a while. It didn't matter if he was the one treating himself.  
>And speaking of treats, he was going to have to find a way to pay back Iruka for all times he'd taken him to Ichiraku's. Meh, refunding all that ramen would really suck!<p>

It didn't take long to peruse through his VERY limited wardrobe before he found the only non-orange set of clothes that would still fit him. A few black shirts and one white one, as well as a pair of dark blue pants. Not really much to work with, he only ever wore them to the rare festival he was welcome to. He thought about it for a moment, then donned one of the black shirts and the pants. Once he was dressed, he tore up one of the remaining more worn-out black shirts and used the fabric as a bandanna to hide his bright, sunshine-yellow hair.

Now, he doubted anyone could recognize him. He had no intention whatsoever of letting people find out he was getting stronger, despite the temptation to just come out and proclaim himself no longer an idiot.  
>No. What he needed was to come out in a place and time where there were influential people to witness him, so they could see his true self all at once and spread the word that he was not the fool they all thought he was. The plan was admittedly flawed but he was Uzu-fuckin'-maki Naruto, and giving surprises WAS his business. Hopefully, they wouldn't think that the fox was gaining influence on him. He didn't really need any more of that on his plate.<p>

Nevertheless, he shook himself free of his back and forth thoughts. Those were things which would only serve to distract him from the present. He was to go out and train to his best today, and nothing, absolutely nothing would ruin his day.

l00l

"YOSH, GAI-SENSEI! I'VE FOUND ANOTHER MANLY SPIRIT BURNING WITH ENERGY AND DRIVE JUST LIKE WE ARE THIS FINE MORNING!"

"OH, LEE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?"

"NO, GAI-SENSEI! PLEASE TELL ME!"

"IT MEANS YOU GET TO TEST YOUR FIRES OF YOUTH AND HARD WORK AGAINST ONE OF YOUR PEERS!"

"OF COURSE, GAI-SENSEI! I'LL DO IT RIGHT NOW!"

"GO, LEE! SHOW HIM YOUR DETERMINATION!"

Whatever it was Naruto had been expecting when he set out for a few laps around the village before everyone woke up, this was not it.

'It just has to be against the law or something to scream that loud this early in the morning!'

Whatever other opinions he was cooking up in his mind were lost as a tall boy who looked to be close to his age suddenly appeared next to him while he was jogging full speed around the village following the great wall that had stood sentry around Konoha since the reign of the Shodaime Hokage.

The first thing he noticed about the new arrival was his choice of clothing. He was dressed in spandex from neck to feet, where the green attire ended in a pair of orange, black-striped leg-warmers. The only thing breaking the monotony of green on the full body-suit was the red clothed hitai-ate tied as a belt. If he were anyone else, Naruto would have immediately commented harshly on the boy's lack of fashion sense, but as it was, he himself normally paraded around in bright orange clothes while claiming to be a ninja. He would not judge the boy's interesting style of clothing… or the funny bowl-cut hairstyle… or his ridiculously thick and fuzzy eyebrows. Yes, he would not judge.

Naruto shivered a bit involuntarily as he willed himself to grin back at the new ninja in front of him who had a wide sparkle-toothed smile on his face as well, and was easily keeping pace with him while running backwards.

'Wait, what!'

Indeed, he was comfortably backpedaling while signaling Naruto with a thumbs-up.

"Hello, my name is Rock Lee and I'm going to be Konoha's next taijutsu specialist! Who might you be, friend?" Lee kicked off the introductions.

Naruto was about to answer, then remembered that he was supposed to be keeping his training secret, "I'm just a friend."

"It's nice to meet you, Friend-san. May I run alongside you?"

"Yea…"

The words were hardly out of his mouth when Lee turned around and seemed to vanish into the air. 'Fast!' he thought as he stepped up his pace in a vain effort to catch up to the green blur on the edge of his vision who he had to strain just to see.

lool

Several brutal hours of running later, Naruto flopped onto the ground as he tried to catch the breath that had escaped him.

'What… are… they?' he wondered while shocked to hear himself wheezing in his mind.

Lee and his sensei, Maito Gai, were now doing push-ups and had reached the count of thirty and forty one respectively. Naruto was in awe of their stamina. He had barely just made the last of the laps around Konoha and here they were acting like they had just finished a small warm-up.

'It probably was a warm-up, they had to slow down to wait up for me!'

That thought warmed his heart. Granted, they most likely didn't recognize him from his change of clothes, but still, knowing that they considered him gave him a fuzzy feeling inside that he rarely got when he was on team seven. Sakura almost always never gave him any positive attention and Sasuke preferred brooding in silence to most forms of human contact. Kakashi… well, let's not even get started on that.

"Alright, Youthful Friend of Lee's!"

'That's it, I don't care who knows I'm training. I will not let myself be called that on daily basis!' "Please, just Naruto is fine."

If Gai heard then he didn't react much to it. He he'd finished his push-ups and looked about ready to break off into a run to the end of Fire Country and back.  
>"You have kept up with us on our morning run, and that is commendable, for no one brims with energy like Lee and I!"<p>

'Somehow, that's not all that hard to believe.'

"But you still have a lot of potential, and had you trained with us earlier, you would have realized just what your fires of determination were capable of sooner."  
>Here he paused to strike a thumbs-up and give an exceedingly bright smile.<p>

"That is why Lee and I have decided that you should train with us today and any other day you will be available!"

This caught him off guard. Naruto had expected they would leave him in the dust and go off to do their own stuff, forgetting about him after a while. No one had ever offered to help him train since before the academy. Come to think of it, no one had offered to help him train, period. This was entirely unexpected.

"Why would you want to help me?"

It was Lee who answered, "Naruto-kun, you have the determination, and that's more than enough for me to want to train with you. Plus, I need a new sparring partner other than Gai-sensei since I plan to fight Neji when I'm ready to defeat him in our rivalry, and my other teammate, Tenten, has yet to bloom into the incredible springtime of taijutsu, as she prefers to work on her weapons."

Gai went on, "Lee's right. Your resilience is a key part to any one shinobi's training and unless it is stoked, as it has obviously failed to be before you met us, we cannot let you sink into poor performance."

Somehow, the jounin's teeth let off a "Ping!" while shining a bright white.

Once his tongue had loosened up enough to speak, Naruto was only able to bring himself to utter one word to the two eccentric ninja who had offered, no, insisted that he be a part of their group so long as he keeps his drive. This was definitely a first for him. "Arigato."

The workout session that followed was easily the hardest that Naruto had ever attempted. It had strained him to his limits even further than the rough one he had compiled the previous night could, and then some. It was exactly what he needed, and it wasn't even noon yet!  
>The blond huffed over to a nearby tree and leaned back on its trunk to rest for a moment. It was nothing short of amazing that the bandanna had yet to come off during the many upside down pull-ups he had done. Close beside him was Gai-sensei. He was doing vertical push-ups while watching Lee pound away on a custom shaped, upright training log.<p>

Naruto had been trying to figure out the relationship between master and student that Gai and Lee shared. They were not related as far as he knew, no matter how much they looked alike it did not carry to their faces or their physique. They both had similar personalities, though Naruto recognized, after a while, that Gai's was more forced than Lee.

It made sense to him, when he thought about it, that Maito Gai's personality was as much a mask as his was. The man was old enough to have been through the Third Great Shinobi War, and he must've seen a lot of carnage while serving as a jounin. He was willing to bet that Lee had adopted Gai's personality without realizing it for what it really was. Gai encouraged him, which meant that he was allowing him to take a piece of his master as his own legacy.

The fond look Gai had on his face while watching his face spoke volumes to Naruto about how much he cared for his student.

"You must be really proud of him, Gai-sensei."

He stopped his push-ups immediately and chuckled to himself when he saw the knowing expression on Naruto's face. Not many saw past their outward appearances. Then again, if anyone could spot their true natures, it would be the gennin sitting next to him.

"Yes, Naruto-kun! Lee is my adorable student, and it is my great honor to believe in him and his teammates and share in the joy of their growth."

'Yes, I see that clearly.' "So... when do you guys train with ninjutsu?"

Gai's expression uncharacteristically dropped "I'm afraid that Lee and I don't train with chakra much, if at all."

He was puzzled. Why would they limit themselves like that? Gai answered the unasked question for him. "You see, Lee was born with a condition that left him unable to utilize chakra for anything beyond enhancing his body and muscles, and to a poor extent of that itself."

Now THAT was news. He'd wondered what set Lee toward the goal of becoming a taijutsu specialist.

"He was allowed to graduate based on above average taijutsu at the academy, and afterwards put on my squad. It was his dream to become a taijutsu specialist even before he met me. Of all the people I've seen, he has a drive that exceeds the best of them. That is why I took it upon myself to train him to the best of my ability, so that he may realize his dream."

That touched a chord in Naruto's heart. Lee would forever be disadvantaged in every ninja fight he would take part in, yet he refused to give in to fate without a fight. That kind of spirit was admirable any way you looked at it. And Gai was the perfect teacher for Lee. He took care of his, in a way, crippled student where others would have dumped him immediately, pegging him as a hopeless cause.

Gai himself was wondering what in the seven fires of hell Kakashi was doing with his students. His rival had received his gennin team a couple of weeks back and given what he'd heard about Naruto's impressive stamina and conditioning, he would have expected Kakashi to bring it out in the most effective of ways. The boy who sat next to him was still a far cry from what he should be and it befuddled him to see.

Naruto was clearly partly malnourished. It must have been all the ramen he heard he ate. Hadn't Kakashi taught him proper dieting, or at least stressed its importance? Maybe he had, but there was no denying that Naruto was also under-exercised. Being a demon container, he had far more potential than anyone else in Konoha, even the famous Uchiha prodigy, and from his judgment, all this potential had yet to be exploited, even just barely. He nearly considered going to his long-time friend about this but remembered that he was not to question his colleagues over how they handled their teams.

Gai was hoping that Kakashi's sense of obligation to the Uchiha clan due to his fallen teammate wasn't going to interfere with his duty when it came to his team. The sharingan wielder was known to be one who held on to the past more adamantly than most. It was for this reason that, after the Kyuubi attack and death of the Yondaime, he began to challenge him whenever they met, even against the man's will, just to keep him from falling into loneliness and eventually snapping to descend into madness.

Most thought from a glance that Kakashi was stronger than his green wearing fellow jounin. In truth, Gai knew he was superior to the other in terms of character. Kakashi, a reputed genius from age six, had never had a real friend. If he needed to force the other man to acknowledge him in order to keep him from spiraling into darkness, then by gum, he would use every trick he knew even if it drove them both crazy.

Gai sighed wearily in remembrance. If only Kakashi would find himself a nice girl to take care of him, then he too could finally settle down before the perils of shinobi life overcame him. Any more musings were cut off when the rest of his team showed up.

"Gai-sensei, I didn't realize we would be including someone else in our mission today." Came the stern and harsh voice of one Hyuuga Neji. Just like the rest of his family, barring Hinata and a few others, Neji carried himself with stoic pride and expressed cold indifference to everyone around him. Something about him just seemed to rub Naruto the wrong way. Maybe it was the familiar feeling of someone who looked down on everyone else as being worthless, being in your presence. He DID have that I'm-better-than-you-and-you-can't-do-anything-about-it look that Sasuke always had during team meetings... and missions... and general day to day life.

"No, Neji. Naruto-kun was joining us shortly for our morning session, he won't be coming with us."

The girl with the Chinese style buns on her hair(he must be the Tenten who Lee was talking about) who had arrived with Neji started poking Naruto in the side until he pushed her hand away in annoyance. "Wow, and he actually lived through it?" She seemed like a friendly person to him.

" You know, you're one lucky kid, but just wait until tomorrow. If you can crawl far enough to find me, I'll give you 5 ryo just for the effort." was her contribution while she laughed at his tired state.

She confirmed herself to be Tenten, right before Lee noticed his teammates and came bounding over shouting his morning greetings. Gai had to tell him to punch him to get him to shut up long enough to inform them all that they were to meet in four minutes at the Hokage Tower for their new mission. He gave them a ten second headstart before turning back to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, your body is built towards more erratic attacks, moving in and out of one's guard while keeping a solid position. Keep training like you did this morning to condition your body. Remember that you can spar with Lee when you're both free. It's the best way to improve and at the same time gauge yourself in your growth." He turned in readiness to leap away. "Say hello to your sensei for me."

Naruto took the advice for the gold it was and he let this be known to his newfound teacher, along with his appreciation for not revealing just who he was. He put on his most heartfelt smile and shouted to the man before he could vanish. "Thanks, Gai-sensei! For everything." the warm smile on his face conveyed the message as much as his words did.

He got one big "Ping!" smile in return and Gai was gone, maybe already beating his team to the Tower. Naruto found himself alone once more with more hours to spare than he had planned for.

"Heh, I'll be there for that five ryo, Tenten." As he had predicted, the Kyuubi's chakra was working its magic through him and with some light stretching he was ready to head to his next stop, albeit with some soreness.

'I'd better not train my body anymore, otherwise the muscles will tear again.'

He decided to just walk the distance to his next planned destination, the Konoha Library.

lool

Naruto was left spellbound at the sight of so many books and scrolls that fit his needs so perfectly, it was as if they were put there for him by some divine hand. Theory on chakra, its mechanics and properties was abundant, as well as, a number of tested approved exercises to learn control. With the kind of information available, he would not be surprised if at the end of three months he was already making his own ninjutsu.

The treasure trove that was Konoha's Public Ninja Library was started by the Sandaime in an effort to better prepare gennin during wartime and give them a chance to survive the perilous times. It contained records that held descriptions on almost every known basic technique from any of the ninja arts, as well as a fair number of texts on strategy and psychology. While the archives did not hold instructions for performing these techniques, they gave a good enough description of them that anyone who put their mind to it could figure out counters to them, or in the rare case, recreate them.

It certainly served its purpose since a great number of veterans could tell at least one near-death situation they were involved in and had been saved due to the knowledge gained from the Library. High level techniques were sometimes documented, but to keep them out of the hands of their enemies, it was decided that there would be a separate Library to store such dangerous tools, of which only a select few would have access, namely jounin and high level ANBU.

Sadly, as the wars came to an end and peace was restored, the next generation of gennin began to disregard the Library in favor of clan knowledge which was the up and coming, popular 'thing' that everyone wanted to do, along with desire to master kekkei genkai(bloodline limits).

This was exactly what Naruto needed and he would consider himself the biggest idiot he knew if he failed to utilize the opportunities he saw before him. Normally, he would not be allowed inside the building due to his status and as such, he didn't even know of the metaphoric gems that were to be found inside. Since he was denied access unlike the rest of the population, even after becoming a gennin, he'd labeled the place as really boring and not worth his time. Now, he wondered why the hell he hadn't used a disguise sooner to get at the brain-food in front of him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled as he watched Naruto make use of the facility he had established through his crystal spying ball. He'd just felt like checking up on his surrogate grandson to make sure he was doing well following the late-arrived report of his mission to Wave Country that was brought in by Kakashi that morning, and was pleased to find the boy having finally dropped his foolish act and gotten serious with his career. As it was, Hiruzen couldn't wait to see what this Naruto was capable of, and if he would succeed his parents.

On more pressing matters, the Sandaime Hokage reread the letter on his desk that was a formal statement of which was to be sent to the other hidden villages, confirming Konoha's acceptance to host the next Chuunin Selection Exams, as per the votes taken by the Village Heads at the previous exam in Takigakure(Hidden Waterfall) one month ago. There was to be expected a greater number of turn-outs and village security would need to be beefed up some.

A.N:Whoo! The grammar corrections have been made. This chapter is officially rewritten and for those who haven't yet, reread the first chapter to make sure you got all the details.

Yes, Naruto now has five months to get his act together before the exams. I appreciate all your comments and let it be known that Gai and Lee needed to be included so that character developments can kick-off. I will not have you bitching because so and so don't fit into their characters. This is my story, and I want you all to see it from my perspective. Oh, I think 'yujin' means friend(or something like that). This part of the story was a bit boring, I admit, but that's cos I'm saving the really juicy stuff for later.

Like I mentioned earlier, the first five or so chapters will feature Naruto's training which will be done a little differently than usual. That's all I'll reveal for now, aside the fact that it will involve experiences when he is learning new stuff. Catch you all next time, and don't hold your breath;-)


	3. Chakra, More Mind than Matter

A.N: Yes, chapter three is here! I've just been itching to write this and I consider it very informative in a few concepts ignored in canon and a few other stories. Again, if you've been following this story so far, it's been renovated, so for best effect, start again from chapter one:-/ Anywho, it's a whole lot better now.

Disclaimer: Why don't you people believe me when I tell you I don't own Naruto! Why!

Chapter three: Chakra, More Mind than Matter

2 Months Since Wave

The sun shining through Naruto's window was what woke him in time to carry out his daily schedule. His face had a particularly nasty look to it as he forced himself to get out of bed. Even after waking up at the crack of dawn everyday for the last nine weeks, he STILL wasn't used to it. Dark mumblings escaped him, promising to deal pain to whoever bothered him that morning as he went about showering and preparing breakfast.

On his agenda today was finally figuring out just what was up with his chakra control and the ways he could combat his latest adversary. He had reached a proficiency in taijutsu that could no longer progress without at least three more months of work, and despite not wanting to give up his now best friend and training partner, Rock Lee, he had reluctantly informed the young taijutsu user that he would no longer be available to train with him except the occasional spar. Lee would have wept gallons of anime-style tears when the news was broken to him, but he took it in good stride and out of respect for his fellow hardworker had given him a handshake instead of the hugs he was prone to with his sensei.

FLASHBACK

Naruto needed to be careful about how he was going to do this. He was walking on eggshells all the way to the training ground frequented by Team Gai.

"Lee, I gotta talk to you, do ya have a minute?"

The near-hyperactive boy he was dreading meeting with paused in his pull ups to acknowledge him.

"Hello, Naruto-kun! How are you this fine morning?" Lee regarded the blond as one of his closer friends, and always looked forward to their training sessions together. He never liked to admit it, but the monotony of Team Gai was something he dreaded on a near-daily basis, and he greatly appreciated the change of atmosphere that came with Naruto. It could get really boring with Neji ridiculing him whenever he made a mistake, and this way he relieved some of the tension he had, resulting in him being less outgoing than he had to be just to maintain his sanity.

It really refreshed him to be able to take to someone he could relate to. Both he and Naruto were orphans, and they both performed abysmally in the academy. They had lived with handicaps most of their lives, Lee's being his inability to wield chakra when his chosen career was being a ninja, and Naruto's being that he was shunned by such a large majority in the village for reasons unknown to him. His lifelong rival may have been Neji, but Naruto was easily grabbing the trophy for best friend, and he suspected that he was somewhat of the same to his training partner.

"Lee, I'm not good with these kinds of things, so I'm just going to say it, "Naruto started. 'Shit, it sounds like I'm breaking up with him!'

The disgusting thought was forcefully banished from his mind. He was many things but he was NOT gay. That department was reserved for the emo-teme who treated his fangirls like they were an annoyance. They were, but still... Seriously, who turns up their nose when girls keep throwing themselves at him?

"You won't have time to train in taijutsu only, is that what you were going to say, Naruto-kun?" Right on the money. Naruto now felt like trash because of how he was going to branch out in his growth to include various chakra exercises while his friend was stuck forever doing forms, katas and stances.

Lee noticed his pained look and sought to relieve him.

"It's alright, you know," Naruto looked up at him, tearing his gaze off the ground. "I already accepted my calling to be taijutsu, and because I appreciate your supporting me, I shall do the same for you. You do not have to feel guilty because you can use chakra. It is how you are and you must accept it. I could never live with myself if I held you back, Naruto-kun."

If he were a lesser person, Naruto would have cried because of Lee's declaration. The fuzzy-browed gennin had gained a solid standing in his book of people who he highly regarded, and the deal was sealed when the taijutsu user extended his hand to grasp and firmly shake his own.

"I won't wish you luck, Lee," He replied, "You don't need it. Kick Neji's ass for me sometime, okay?"

He got an enthusiastic hand-salute in return and Lee went back to his pull-ups. The two understood each other to the level that not many words were needed while interacting. Naruto left the training grounds lighter than he had been when he arrived.

FLASHBACK END

Naruto found he now had a new problem on his plate now that the old one was addressed. He had studied the subject of chakra for a long while in the hopes that he would find the solution he needed but all his efforts turned out next to nothing that assisted him.  
>Sure he learned a lot about chakra and had come up with more than a few ideas he was dying to try out, but he had always been held back by the chaotic flow of his own internal energy.<p>

His own chakra was regrettably wild and all attempts to tame it left him right where he started. He had attempted more than a few control exercises that had left him drained for days but the next thing he knew, he was back at square one with next to nothing to show for all is hard work. Needless to say, it really pissed him off that he couldn't wield the force like others could.

Chakra and its control could be likened to a balloon being filled with air in preparation to utilize a jutsu. The chakra would be the air while one's proficiency with it would be the balloon itself.  
>Now, there wasn't any one person with perfect control, so everyone's balloons would have small pricks in them that would leak chakra while gathering it for a jutsu. The better control one had, the fewer pricks their balloon had, so to speak, than everyone else's. Naruto was a peculiar case because while others had small pricks in their balloons, his had huge pencil-stabs all over it that leaked out chakra like a fountain whenever he performed his jutsu. The only reason he was even able to do jutsu in the first place was because he could pump in more chakra than necessary but enough to get around the issue of control, though the energy ws largely thinned out making his jutsu less potent.<p>

He definitely needed outside help as far as this was concerned, and today he was going to see the one man he was confident could spare time to help him out. But first, he would need to finish his team meeting.

Naruto groaned out loud while finishing up and putting on his bright orange jacket, leaving it unzipped and hanging loose on his now well-muscled torso. He then locked his door and headed out to the bridge where his team would meet.

Team seven's dynamics had not improved much over the time they had been doing D-rank missions around the village, with the rare C-rank in between. Kakashi had warmed up some though the change only amounted to him pointing out flaws while sparring and giving tips on how to perform field missions the best way. Some of the times, Naruto wasn't even sure the advice had been meant for them so much as the jounin reminiscing about his ANBU days.

He delayed a bit while leaping on rooftops to feel the cool morning wind on his face, which twitched a bit when his sensitive whisker marks got tickled.

Sakura had yet to realize that the team consisted of more than just her and Sasuke. Whenever Naruto tried to remind her about this, she brought up the subject of how he nearly got Sasuke killed while in Wave Country, and from then on the mood would dampen as the two got even further apart.  
>It infuriated him that they had yet to get over it. Of course, he could sympathize, but now it was just becoming just too much! He was still alive, wasn't he? And in any case, Naruto knew that he wasn't in any real danger as the youki in his system would have taken care of all his wounds in a short time. He never ASKED for Sasuke to play the hero and jump in front of him, knowing he wouldn't be able to defend them both. No one called HIM out on his dangerous and completely unnecessary tactic.<p>

His usually sour morning mood now undoubtedly ruined, Naruto resumed his journey to the bridge.

lool

It took exactly six hours, twenty two minutes and three seconds for team seven to complete their D-rank for the day, not counting the two and a half hours Kakashi took to get to the bridge. Cleaning a sheep's pen was a lot more work than it sounded, especially when the two boys on the team argued over who would take out the droppings, with the one girl siding with one against the other.

Naruto was so glad he learned the kage bunshin, otherwise he would be stinking of manure so much he'd need at least five hours of hosing down his body and clothes just to get the stench down to near-acceptable levels. He'd lost the argument when Sakura threatened to introduce his face to the ground and very nearly brought up Wave again before he accepted. He was very much amused when she ranted over how he 'cheated' and got away clean without lifting a finger. His victory was short-lived when Kakashi called him out on using jutsu during a mission they were supposed to be building their strength through. As punishment and to make up for it, the jounin-sensei set him to a hundred pushups. It wasn't much to him considering what he had gotten used to doing, but it was enough that Kakashi's standing with him dropped a few notches. He'd played his mask and sulked the rest of the way to the Hokage Tower when turning in their completed mission scroll.

He was so relieved when they were released that he almost didn't hear his sensei explaining something to him and Sakura. "What did you say Kakashi-sensei? Sorry, I wasn't listening."

Sasuke snorted at his inattentiveness, "Go, figure…"

"Are you asking for a fight, teme?" He was already rolling up his sleeve when his arm was grabbed by Kakashi. "Maa, Naruto. You know, you should be more aware of your surroundings otherwise you'll let an enemy sneak up on you."

Naruto just jerked his arm away from Kakashi, still mad at him for the punishment.

'He's still sulking about that?' Kakashi's uncovered eye scrutinized Naruto. That arm was just a little too firm for someone who supposedly didn't train too much on their own.

He filed away the thought to the recesses of his mind, he'd wonder what his student was doing in his free time later. "I was telling you and Sakura about the application of the tree climbing exercise you did back in Wave," Naruto nearly let out a whine. Weren't they going to let that go yet? Kakashi either didn't notice his discomfort or he didn't care because he went on. "You can enhance your muscles, and effectively, your speed if you send just the right amount of chakra through the coils in the areas of your body concerned. It's different from what you do for tree hopping where you release your chakra in bursts, because you have to send a constant amount to your limbs. Too much, and you can rip your muscles, too little and nothing will really happen. This skill is used by many ninja while executing evasion tactics, but it's not really useful in a taijutsu fight. And before you ask Sakura,"

The pink haired gennin was already opening her mouth to question him.

"I didn't tell you this because you two can't do it just yet. You, Sakura, don't have enough chakra to make it work well, and Naruto," The blond had already lost focus and was busy cleaning his ear with his pinky while Kakashi was talking. A quick slap to the back of his head from Sakura and he affirmed that he was still listening. "Like I was saying, your chakra is too unpredictable and you'll need to work on you're a control a lot before you can even hope to start doing it without blowing yourself up."

While the image of him blowing up was not very appealing, what Kakashi was saying was old news to Naruto. He was already aware of the use of the control gained from tree climbing, it just hadn't occurred to him that his sensei might have been withholding the information on purpose.  
>Kakashi bid them farewell after reminding them to keep their skills sharp even when he was not around to train them. This made his orange wearing student less than happy when he poofed away in his usual manner of leaf shunshin.<p>

'As if we get any real training from you, ya hypocrite!' He could count on one hand the number of times Kakashi had taken an active interest in their growth and still be left with enough fingers to eat ramen with. If Kakashi really wanted to help them, he should have given Sakura a more effective exercise to build his reserves and refer him to techniques that he could use to wrestle his chakra in line.

Anyway, he didn't need the Cyclops to hold his hand. He'd gotten along just fine(barely!) before he came along, and there was no reason he should begin to depend on him now. It was time for the customary, Naruto-asks-Sakura-out-and-she-hits-him-then-she-asks-Sasuke-out-and-he-refuses ritual that left Naruto with the task of providing a vent for the girl's frustrations when he did something silly and funny to cheer her up.

Naruto was heading to the academy with two fresh lumps on his head a few minutes later, silently wondering just how much longer he would have to put up with the act. If he waited too long, he'd reach his breaking point all too soon. 'I can't think about that now. I'm not ready yet.' Yes, he still had one more hurdle to overcome.

lool

Umino Iruka loved getting visits from his former students. Whether they needed advice, guidance, or just felt like coming to see him, his spirits would always be lifted on seeing the proud and strong shinobi and kunoichi he had had a hand in creating. It was for this reason that he was overjoyed to hear a loud and boisterous call coming from outside the classroom where he was busy grading a few tests.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!"

He couldn't resist a chuckle. Naruto could turn an otherwise boring day into a cheerful and exciting one with just his voice. It didn't take long for the owner of the voice to bound into the room(thankfully, the door was open, so he was spared buying a new one). The bright orange clothes were a dead give-away and erased any doubts as to just who his caller was.

" How are you, Naruto? I haven't seen you in a while," He stopped shuffling the papers on his desk to pay attention to the boy standing in front of him. "You didn't forget all about me did you?"

Naruto gulped loudly at the accusation and Iruka laughed out loud at his nervousness. He had been so caught up in his training that he'd forgotten to visit the man who had saved him from despair the day he learned of his burden. "Ehhh, I've just been doing a lot of stuff lately, sensei. I would've come to see you but it was sorta important," Iruka brushed it off with a wave of his hand.

"That's alright. You're a ninja of Konoha now. I can understand you've been busy. Besides," He gave a short laugh, "my wallet's been suffering less lately,"

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding but he glared at Iruka for what he was implying. "Feh, you just wait. I've actually been craving for a few bowls lately and I'll make sure to remember that the next time I'm going to Ichiraku's."

The comeback would have given Iruka gray hairs if that was even possible. He had to settle for his face paling at the thought of treating a Naruto who was coming out of a ramen fast. Not even the great battles fought in the Third Great Ninja War would compare to the massacre of the boy working his way through bowl after bowl at a rate that would leave most Akimichi in the dust. His funds could take several years to recover from something like that!

He cleared his throat and opted to change the subject. "Ano, you wanted to see me about something?"

"Hm?" the ramen fanatic was thinking of the heaven that was Iruka's nightmare(No! Must… think… happy… thoughts…) when he remembered what he needed to see Iruka about. "Oh, yeah! Iruka-sensei, d'you think you could help me improve my chakra control? I've done a bunch of advanced exercise, even coming up with some of my own but for some reason, no matter what I do, it just stays out of whack."

'Hmmm…' This was different. Iruka knew that Naruto had problems with his control but if he'd tried all the advanced exercises… There was still one thing that he'd considered sharing with the blond in this regard but had put it off believing it his jounin sensei's job to help him. Still, this was stuff that wasn't shared lightly with fresh gennin like him, but in his case, an exception would be in order.

"There's still one thing I don't think you've tried, Naruto."

That quickly perked his interest. A new exercise that he didn't know about? It must be a Jounin Eyes'-only technique that wasn't recorded in the Library.  
>Whatever it was that Iruka was about to tell Naruto must have been really guarded and classified. The Chuunin instructor had gotten up from his chair and closed the door then proceeded to shut the blinds over the classroom's windows. His face held none of the usual cheerfulness when he sat back down and regarded him with all seriousness.<p>

"Naruto, what I'm about to tell you, you can't repeat to anyone. I'm only letting you know about it because you need it more than anyone else. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The one being spoken to responded with a nod. His mask had already been slipped off in preparation to get down to business and he was giving his former sensei all his focus. Satisfied with the answer, and knowing that Naruto would never lie to him, Iruka continued, "When a ninja of the village wishes to apply for a Jounin rank there is an evaluation, a test, they have to undergo to make sure they are qualified for the post."

Okay… He was with him, so far.

"A Jounin of Konoha is superior to every other ninja in the village in terms of chakra and its use. The only exceptions are the Hokage and a number of high level ANBU. Before anyone can be ready for Jounin status, they need to be so much in tune with their chakra that they have the superior control that you've no doubt seen in a few of them."

This was true. Jounin like Gai and Kakashi were own a whole other level from the chuunin who used to chase after him for his pranks. Was there more to their strength than everyone else knew?

Iruka shuffled a bit in his seat. The explanations he was giving Naruto stirred up some foul memories he had hoped to leave buried.

"Chakra is made up of both physical and mental energy, as I'm sure you know. What you maybe don't know, is that chakra carries some of your conscious and subconscious thought when it's formed. It responds to decisions and this is the property that makes it possible to sometimes utilize jutsu without handseals."

This was all new and amazing stuff Naruto was learning, and he was close to grabbing a book and taking down notes. Actually, the only thing stopping him was his promise to Iruka that he wouldn't reveal their conversation to anyone, and keeping a written account of it in his apartment was just begging for some stranger to come and read it. Ninja could be very sneaky, even to other ninja.

Iruka was starting to get more fidgety. Something was obviously unsettling him and it was getting worse the closer he was to finishing his instruction to Naruto.

"When applying, for Jounin, the ninja in question has to undergo a test in which they… discover themselves in almost every aspect of their personality. Once they do that, they find that they can cooperate well with their chakra, and it doesn't conflict with them as much as it otherwise would had they not taken the test."

How hard could that be? "That's it?" Naruto was kind of disappointed. He was just reaching the climax of the room's atmosphere and this was the big secret?

He snorted, "Iruka-sensei, that sounds like just standard meditation…"

Iruka was almost frantic in rebuking him. " Coming to terms with who you are isn't as easy as it sounds! Sometimes, the ninja breaks in the process, or realizes something they can't accept about themselves. If that happens, it usually takes a lot of therapy before they can be deemed ready to get back into ninja duty." By now he was breaking out in sweat, "You have no idea… I shouldn't even be telling you this! You could wind up a vegetable for all I know!"

Since the introduction of the topic, there was a nagging suspicion at the back of Naruto's mind but he had pushed it back, thinking he had an overactive imagination. It resurfaced when Iruka came close to shouting at him.

"Iruka-sensei," he made sure to get the chuunin instructor's attention, "How do you know all about this stuff?"

Iruka had the deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression on his face for a moment before he calmed down enough to tell him the reason he nearly had a panic attack. "I know about it… because I took the test." Naruto's eyes widened. "Yes, I applied for jounin,"

FLASHBACK

"Umino Iruka," the secretary at the desk outside the interviewers' office at the Hokage Tower caught his attention. "You can go in now."

Iruka took a deep breath to steady himself. He was confident in his abilities, but the things he'd been told about this test just downright scared him. Some of the older chuunin he knew had tried to discourage him from going through with it but he'd already applied for the change in rank and had passed in terms of combat prowess. This was the final hurdle in getting to the next stage of his career. Peer pressure would not sway him. He would pass this test no matter what it took.

The room wasn't too large though he suspected it had been built to appear claustrophobic to the interviewee. The Panel sat in a semi-circular pattern around him. He noted the presence of a Yamanaka, the mind masters, and an Aburame who were reputed to be the best readers of emotion in fire country, and possibly the world. The rest of the interviewers he couldn't recognize, save for the hokage who stood off to the side of them.

They didn't waste time in beginning.

"Umino Iruka, you applied for the post of Jounin three months ago and are here for the final psyche test, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"And are you ready?"

He didn't hesitate in his answer, "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

A few of the interviewers noted something down with some writing material they had with them.

"Alright. You should know that the normal meditative processes take a number of hours to initiate and complete successfully. Here, Yamanaka Sazamaku will speed up that process to save time. If you would please sit in the chair, we can begin."

There was no second guessing for Iruka. He sat down on the lone chair facing the panel as the Yamanaka left his seat and approached him. The man began his handseals in front of him. "Try and relax. This won't take long…"

He did his best to relax in the face of the man who he could've sworn had a sadistic streak about him.

The next thing he knew was that he was in an extremely familiar place that had no form yet felt like home to him. This was part of the test? It didn't seem so bad.

Yet.

"Who are you?"

The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. He assumed it was the interviewers and they were assessing him.

"My name is Umino Iruka. Age…" He began to rattle off everything he knew about himself. From his earliest memories of his childhood to the smaller quirks he had acquired recently. As he said all this, the memories would show themselves and confirm everything he said. All seemed well except…

"What do you feel about their death?"

Iruka swallowed heavily. They were referring to his parents who had met their demise in the Kyuubi attack when he had gotten the scar on his nose.

"I have accepted it and moved on…"

Even before the words were completely out of his mouth, conflicting memories surfaced and they showed him in anguish over their graves, weeping from dusk until dawn for nearly a week non-stop. The next memory showed him watching a young Naruto with what could only be described as a look of pure loathing which showed how much he utterly detested the container of the nine-tails. Impure thoughts returned to him of the times he had wished he could maim, burn, stab and utterly torture the boy. Anything to make him feel the pain and sorrow that he had felt.

Before he could sink further into the dark notions he was already starting to embrace, he was pulled out of the meditative state he was in by the Yamanaka who had apparently remained near him during the whole evaluation. The interviewers were already packing their stuff and getting ready to leave. They had heard everything he said, all the response through memory. And he had failed.

His failure actually wasn't what was foremost on his mind. The chuunin was struggling with his psyche, where one part of him wanted to track down Uzumaki and make him pay for his losses. The other part was unable to bring himself to harm a child, be it the Kyuubi in human skin or not. His hands were tightly gripping the chair's armrests, to the point his knuckles were turning white.

"Get a Jounin in here to take him away now." He heard the Aburame telling the secretary outside, but he didn't care. His teeth were gritted together and beads of sweat rolled down his face as he began to have a panic attack.

"No." The voice that spoke now was warm, yet firm. It somehow soothed him and pacified the bloodlusting side of his mind. It was the Sandaime who had spoken out. He approached Iruka and placed a wrinkled hand on his shoulder, which prompted Iruka to look at him in a confused manner.

"You can't do it, can you? You can't take revenge."

"How can you say that, you don't even know…"

"What don't I know? I've seen my loved ones die in my arms while I'm unable to save them. I've seen men, women and children slaughtered in the madness of war and after that, I've seen their brothers, sisters, children, husbands and wives cry over their corpses."

Iruka couldn't deny what the Sandaime was saying, but how could he get past the pain, his pain! How could he stand to forgive the one who caused him to be alone in the world? How?

"You know, there is a way for you to find peace."

Iruka's now tear-streaked face turned hopefully to the hokage's old and weary one. He had the answer?

"Know him. See him for who and what he is, then decide for yourself if he truly deserves all you say he does…"

"What if I can't," he let his fears be known. "What if… what if I hurt him without meaning to, kill him even."

"You can control it. I can tell, Iruka, that the reason you still hurt after all these years is because you believe him to be a remainder of what you lost. Until you can get that perception to change, you will never find peace with yourself."

The aged leader turned to walk away, out through the open door. As he was passing the doorway, he turned back to Iruka.

"Take some time off. When you feel you're ready, the academy is looking to recruit some new instructors. I trust you'll make the right choice, Iruka."

END FLASHBACK

He had spent day after day, trying to make out Naruto for the monster he thought he was, yet every minute he spent with the boy had proved to him just how wrong he had been in his judgment. The Sandaime had been right. After saving Naruto from Mizuki, he had found peace by no longer associating his student with their passing and finding a sense of justice in the knowledge that their true killer, the nine tailed fox, was forever imprisoned.

When he thought about it now, Iruka was able to see just how much Naruto's problems concerning his control had hampered his growth. Had he helped the boy out earlier on, he would no doubt have graduated with flying colors. He could even have made Chuunin, maybe Special Jounin by now! How much had the academy really held him back for all those years he was ignored. He never really doubted(much) Naruto's claims that he would become hokage, but now the goal seemed so much closer to him than anyone else he knew.

The guilt weighed heavily on him. "Naruto, I'm sorry."

"Eh? Sorry for what, you're helping me out right now, right?" What did the Chuunin instructor have to apologise for? This new information would be of great help later on.

"I'm sorry for not helping you out sooner," Iruka blurted out. "I knew you had a problem with your control, but I didn't know or even think about why that was. If I'd have helped you sooner you could have graduated earlier..."

Naruto just gave him an all too familiar and cheerful grin. "Iruka-sensei, that's just water under the bridge. To be honest, I'm kind of glad I didn't graduate early. We wouldn't be such good friends if I had, would we?"

Iruka returned the smile with one of his own. Once again, his favorite student had proved that you could never really tell what was going on in his mind. How he was able to see past the bad and into the good of any situation would forever be beyond him. He just might be able to pull this off...

"Alright, now listen up. It's not much, so you don't have to take notes," He chuckled slightly at the affronted look Naruto gave him. "If you mess up, you can just start again. The first thing you need to do is..."

lool

Naruto was nearly bursting from the information he had learned from visiting his former teacher. He'd been instructed in the proper meditation process by Iruka and the two had afterward gone out for ramen while talking about various unimportant things. He'd left Ichiraku's stand several hours later on a considerably higher note and he was all geared up for sleep now that his belly was full.

It wasn't long before he was settled in bed and waiting for sleep to claim him. 'So, I have to know myself completely, huh? That doesn't sound too hard. I'll get started on it tomorrow.'

He turned over to his side and let his eyelids drop of their own accord as he made a mental note to consult with the person who knew him since he was a baby. He was the one who knew him best and could help him fill in the blanks for the memories from his childhood which he had blocked out years ago. Hiruzen Sarutobi would soon be getting a visit from his surrogate grandson.

lool

N.A: Finally! 5k+ words and my head hurts from typing so much in one sitting. If you don't know, chapters one and two were rewritten and I warn you all not to get comfortable with the speed at which I'm updating. It will take about a week to get a decently sized chapter with all the corrections made.

Yeah, I told you guys the plot would pick up, and some of you probably didn't believe me. I'm sure none of you saw the bit about Iruka coming. Just wait until the next chapter. I promise it'll be better. Thanks for positive reviews and constructive criticism.


	4. Confrontation

A.N: Yahoo! (Sorry, Mario moment.) I suppose it's time I updated. Again, all you guys with ideas, please forward them, and maybe someday I'll be a real boy… Damn, I can't seem to get out of character.

Alright, for the last time, I've rewritten chapters one, two and three (Yes, I'm evil, mwahahaha!) So, you all need to go back and read them for the next chapters to make sense. Otherwise, enjoy this latest installment.

Disclaimer: Hey, what're you doing here?...You want me to what, now?... Ah, what the heck, sure, Kishi-san, I'd be happy to take Naruto off your hands… Hah, as if! I'll never own Naruto, its concept or its characters. I'm just a worthless bum that writes fanfiction.

Chapter Four: Confrontation

"Ne, Sakura-chan, can we…"

"For the last time, NO NARUTO!"

"But you didn't even…"

"Look, I'm only telling you once, then I don't want to hear you whine again. I. Will. Not. Go. Out. With. You."

This was the scene a bystander would walk past on their way into the Hokage Tower. Team seven was just about to go in for one of their daily D-ranks when Naruto decided to ask Sakura whether she could help him organize a team lunch at one of the swankier restaurants that at least treated him like a human being(not that he expected the team building exercise to really work, but hey, that wasn't his problem). It was too bad he forgot that whenever he started a conversation with his pink haired teammate which began with the words 'we' or 'you and I' he would be met with a brick wall of resistance that wouldn't even let him get the rest of the words out of his mouth.

"Sheesh, with that kind of attitude, how do you ever expect Sasuke-teme to go out with you?" he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Sakura was just able to catch that utterance.

"BAKA! Don't call Sasuke-kun that!" How it was she could ignore the insult to herself and immediately pick up on the jab at Sasuke would always be beyond him. It was the same for the Strength of Righteous Female Fury TM she wielded that somehow managed to put him into the ground regardless of the weeks of conditioning he had undergone while working with Maito Gai and Rock Lee.

Swing. Punch. Drop. Groan. The timing was better than that of their entire history of teamwork. One would think that the entire thing was rehearsed with the way it happened almost on cue. Sometimes he half expected a director and camera crew to emerge from the bushes behind them yelling, "Cut! That's a wrap!" and one of those weird, gay makeup guys would come to touch up his face with talcum powder.

He would have laughed out loud at the thought had he not been bent over backwards with his head in contact with the ground. Ouch. That one would hurt for a while. One day he would have to undertake a serious study on Righteous Female Fury TM. If he could somehow tap into that power, he would be unstoppable!

His diabolical plots to take over the world with the Power of Female Fury R and force everyone to feed him ramen with gold chopsticks were interrupted with a grunt from Sasuke.

"Quit messing around, dobe. I want to be done with this as soon as I can so I can go back to training."

"Who cares what you want, teme?" he snarled back. 'As if you know what real training is.'

And... go! As expected, Sakura moved to hit him again. It would have been another funny 'If I had a nickel for everytime… ' moment if Kakashi hadn't held onto her hand before she could bring down her wrath on the orange wearing ninja.

"Maa, Sakura," he said with his nose still buried in his copy of Icha Icha. "It's not nice to hit your teammates."

She just huffed and turned to darker haired member of her team. "Sasuke-kun, I have some free time later. If you want, after you train we can…"

"No."

So predictable. One word from him was enough to silence her. What Naruto wouldn't give for that kind of hold over someone, most preferably the man and woman, chuunin if their attire was anything to go by, standing next to the nearby fence who were whispering about him, thinking he couldn't hear them.

"Hey, isn't that the…"

"Ssshh! We're not supposed to talk about that out here!"

"But what's he doing on Uchiha-san's team? I heard he had no talent as a ninja,"

"They probably put him under Hatake-san so that they could keep a leash on him. He was the Yondaime's student, you know…"

"So THAT'S why he took a gennin squad. I heard he never passed one before,"

"In any case, I don't think there's a better man for the job. Jiraiya-sama, maybe, but he's got more important things to do. One of the Sannin can't be bothered with something like this…"

Naruto ceased his eavesdropping deciding he'd heard enough. His hands involuntarily clenched into tight fists at what the two chuunin were saying. Why. Why! Just what made them so prejudiced towards him? What made him any less than the next person to them?

Before he could dwell on it further, Kakashi marched the group into the building and to the mission office.

lool

As luck would have it, the Hokage was overseeing the mission handouts in the office when team seven made their way inside. The old man smiled on seeing the whiskered face enter the room.

"Mission request for Team Seven, please." Kakashi drawled in his usual lazy manner without even looking up from his literature.

"It's good to see you too, Kakashi," the Sandaime replied dryly to the laid back jounin's unmotivated behavior. "Do you have any preferences for today?"

The sharingan user closed his book and observed his team with his single eye before giving his answer. "I think a delivery would do."

The aged village leader complied with the request, handing Kakashi a mission form for a package delivery across the village. "You can pick your payment the usual way at the Mission Return Office once you're done."

"Hai, hai. We'll do that, hokage-sama…"

Just like they usually did, they filed out of the office one by one, the exception to today being Naruto who hung back when his team left him behind.  
>"Hey, ojisan," he said to his grandfather figure, "D'you think we could meet up later? I need to talk to you about something."<p>

This caught the Sarutobi's attention. Just what could young Naruto wish to speak about that he couldn't say in front of his squad members?  
>"Of course, my boy. You know I can make time for any ninja who needs to talk to me."<p>

Naruto was able to relax now that Sandaime had agreed to a meeting. He'd been worried that he would be too caught up in meetings and the like.  
>"Thanks, Old man. You have no idea how much that means to me."<p>

The said old man's mind was alert for a hint of what Naruto could want to talk to him about. "Sure, just drop by the office later today. Say around four o'clock, you should be through with your mission then, and I won't have any more meetings after three."

"I'll be ther…"  
>His words were cut off by a scream from down the hallway that carried through the open door.<p>

"NARUTO! You'd better not make us late, or so help me I'll rip your…"

The mild profanities spewing from the mouth of the only female on the team were drowned out by Naruto's own yells.

"COMING, SAKURA-CHAAAAAN!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

Naruto turned back long enough to Sandaime to wink at him then sped out of the room to keep from further infuriating the already flustered gennin and jounin waiting for him. Hiruzen could still hear them bickering on their way out of the Tower.

"Dobe, you just had to get lost in the Hokage Tower, didn't you."

"Aaah, shut it, Teme! I told you already, no one cares what you think!"

"Naruto! Apologize to Sasuke-kun right now!"

"Why should I! Oooow… Sakura-chaaan!"

"Don't yell in my ear, baka!"

"Don't fight in the corridors, Sakura. I don't want to have to pay for the walls and floor. Or the ceiling. Or even the windows in that case."

Team seven could certainly light up one's day no matter the occasion. They were nearly good enough to have their own traveling show. Jiraiya would have had a field day writing down all the good material they had for his stories. Speaking of which, now that they were gone, the hokage was able to return his focus to the book that he had swiftly hidden in his sleeves the moment they walked in. A perverted giggle escaped him as he read the part of how Shunika seduced the hero and was now kissing him furiously while playing with his… Ahem, yes kiddies, the man really liked his porn.

lool

"Ano, Naruto."

He looked up, peeling his eyes from the road to show his Sakura that he was paying attention. "Hm?"

"What were you seeing hokage-sama about earlier?" She was genuinely curious to know what had transpired in the conversation they'd undoubtedly had.

He regarded her suspiciously. "Why would you want to know?"

She sounded annoyed when she came up with her reply. "I'm … because we're on the same team! Do I need a reason to know if you're talking to the hokage about us?"

'Some team.' He'd caught how she refused to directly acknowledge herself as his teammate. He couldn't let her know this though. He had an act to play after all.

"Well, if you must know," She tilted her head closer to him to hear what he had to say. Even Sasuke, who'd mostly kept to himself throughout the mission, was slightly interested to hear what he had to say. For all he knew it could be a new training regimen. Kakashi may not have looked like it, what with his eye glued to the book in front of his face, but Naruto could tell he was hanging onto his words.

"What we talked about," Oh, he was going to love this! Sure, he'd regret it later but it would be worth it. They were now on edge, waiting to hear what he had to say. "Is a secret!" He finished, sporting a huge grin on his face when Sasuke stumbled, Sakura tripped and fell, and Kakashi nearly walked into a pole.

"Baka, you did that on purpose!" Sakura yelled at him as she got up and dusted herself off. Sasuke looked mad about being tricked like that but he turned away to hide it and Kakashi… well, he just went on reading. It seemed like he'd done this before.

Naruto was currently laughing his ass off at how easily he got them. 'Did they really think I was gonna tell them anything? No offense, but they don't tell ME about their private lives.'

When he'd gotten over his jollies at twisting them like he did, he answered Sakura seriously. He had to, the girl looked like she'd been told the Easter Bunny had confiscated her eggs.

"Sakura, what I talk about with the Hokage is none of your business, or anyone else's for that matter."

Her perceptive brain immediately picked up on the dropping of the suffix from her name and the use of a well constructed sentence. She could immediately tell that he was being serious and did not press the issue further.

It appeared that Naruto's real side had more effect on her than his other goofy one. He'd taken a risk, slipping his mask off for just a moment, but they remained none the wiser. Sasuke had taken to brooding again, while Sakura was stealing glances at him from the side, almost as if they didn't already see each other every day. It was a habit Naruto noticed she had picked up on in her earlier academy days, back when Sasuke was Lord of the Classroom and she was yet to become co-Queen of the Fangirls. Whenever she needed a confidence boost, she would sneak a peek at his face before getting ready to face whatever it was she needed to overcome. Over time, she had transferred this quirk to hitting Naruto at every chance she got, which turned out to be a brilliant stress reliever as well.

'I won't be her punching bag anymore. Soon, after I meet with Ojisan, I'll be so close.' He thought, as he watched her revert to her old mannerisms after opting to leave him be since seeing his more authoritative side.

lool

It was exactly four o'clock and two minutes when Naruto showed up at Sandaime's office where the old man was patiently waiting behind his desk, hands folded on the flat surface, all the while his eyes following him as he walked in closed the door.

"Please, have a seat."

"Thanks."

The room was awfully quiet when Naruto settled himself onto one of the chairs positioned directly in front of the hokage's desk. That is, until Hiruzen enquired about the request for the meeting.  
>"So, you wanted to talk to me about something?"<p>

Naruto took a deep breath before answering. He had no way of knowing what the Sandaime's reaction would be.  
>"Ojisan, it's about my chakra control."<p>

This didn't seem all that urgent after all. "Well, have you gone to your jounin-sensei for help? I didn't think you needed the hokage's assistance for something trivial like that."

He sighed wearily. Naruto could tell that this was going to take some time. "I don't think Kakashi-sensei can help with this."

"Have you asked him? You should have more faith in your teacher before disregarding him…"

"No, it's not like that," he waved his hands for emphasis "I've done EVERY control exercise in the book, yet nothing seems to stick long enough to work!"

Hiruzen's brow furrowed. Could it be…?

"See, I thought I was doing something wrong, but no matter what, I just can't seem to get my chakra to cooperate more than two minutes without turning against me. That's why I had to go to Iruka-sensei for help." He paused to catch his breath. The village elder made no move to interrupt him as he continued, " Iruka-sensei told me about this thing, he called it a test, that jounin do if they want to get promoted. He figured that since I had a large chakra pool it would work best for me, and I took it 'cos I'm running out of options here. I needed to talk to you for advice, since y'know me better than anyone else and all that."

While surprised at the fact that the boy felt he knew him best out of all those he associated with, he couldn't hide his disappointment on hearing that Iruka had shared such dangerous information with Naruto.

'What was he thinking?' Of course, he knew what he was thinking. Iruka wanted the best of help for his student, and he would give nothing less. 'But still, THAT technique. If anything went wrong the results would be catastrophic, not just for Naruto, but also for the village, even the country in general.'

"Oh, and Iruka-sensei told me it could be really dangerous, so I thought I should also check with you first."

Well, at least he made sure to carry the warning across before the boy in front of him could start experimenting. Hiruzen felt older just by thinking about what he was going to reveal to his surrogate grandson. 'I can only hope he takes it well.'

"Naruto, first of all I'm very glad you decided to see me before trying it out. Iruka didn't know this, but if something had gone wrong while you were in the process, there is a good chance the Kyuubi would have been released." The boy's face paled at that horrifying thought. He'd heard the stories and knew the great beast was sealed in his gut, but he could imagine it was so much worse than it was already made out to be. The villagers' fear and hatred of him could attest to that. Ever since he discovered the truth, he'd often found himself thinking, if they fear the container this much, what about the Nine-tails itself.

"Listen carefully," he was snapped out of his thoughts and his undivided attention was given as required. "I wasn't sure until you told me just now, but I know the true source of your poor control."

True source? So, it wasn't 'cos he was a hopeless bum? If not for the seriousness of the situation he would have given a great whoop of joy that his idiot aspect wasn't irrevocably tied to his life.

"The source is the seal on your stomach, Naruto."

"Seal?" He was a bit confused. He hadn't seen any seal before, and he'd know since he worked with them more than his agemates did.

Hiruzen realized he needed to elaborate. "Please remove your shirt and jacket then mould some chakra."

The blond did so, and nearly fell out of his seat when an elaborate seal shimmered into existence in the area around his navel. How had he missed that! Oh, right. He'd never trained without clothes before. Damn! Of all the stupid reasons to miss such a big-ass…

" This seal was made by the Yondaime, as you well know, and what you don't know is that it has three main parts to it." His attention was once more on the aged hokage.

"Three parts?"

The god of shinobi nodded in confirmation. "The first part ties the Kyuubi's soul to yours. If you should die, it's soul will be dragged down with you. It is completely dependent on your survival."

'Okay… that was a tough pill to swallow there, Old man.'

"The second part is supposed to filter the Kyuubi's youki and convert it to chakra which is stored in your body's inner coils. As you've no doubt already guessed, it's the reason you have even more chakra than I do at such a young age."

'Alright, now we're talking! At least I got something good out of this deal.' He smiled inwardly at this.

"The third and most important part of the seal holds back the very essence of Kyuubi."

"That all's not so bad. So I suppose having its chakra adding to mine is what's been messing me up, right?"

'Wow, sometimes I forget just how smart that boy really is. But he doesn't know all of it yet.'

"It's part of what's been messing you up."

"Eh?"

"Tell me what you know about breaking genjutsu, Naruto."

Genjutsu? What has that got to do with anything?

He recalled the facts exactly as they were in the book he'd read.

"Genjutsu can be broken through pain or the disruption of one's chakra flow. If one cannot sufficiently disrupt his chakra, then someone else can disrupt the flow in his coils by…injecting…his… chakra…" He trailed off as he realized just what he was saying.

"So by adding to my chakra pool, it's been keeping my flow from being smooth and consistent?"

Yes, the boy was definitely sharp, but can he figure out the rest? Sandaime watched Naruto closely as he mulled over what he just said.

"No, that can't be right," he mumbled. Hiruzen was curious, 'Has he worked it out already?'

Naruto's eyes were screwed up as he thought about it once more.

"Chakra disruption only works so long as the chakra is delivered in breaks or bursts that keep the flow from being fluid. Otherwise, if delivered at a constant rate, the two flows synchronize and no disruption takes place."

'By Jove, he's got it!' was Sandaime's honest thought. He was now thoroughly impressed with Naruto's analytical ability and deduction skills. He would go on to do great things in the future. Now he could explain the last and most important piece of the puzzle.

"That's absolutely true, but do you know why that is, Naruto?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Yondaime messed up?"

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed at him. "Don't even joke about that. Your life meant more to Yondaime than you could know and he would not give up his life for a faulty seal that would make your life harder than it already is."

The boy immediately felt guilty for accusing the former hokage of shoddy sealwork, and for insinuating that the man didn't really give two shits about him.

'My life meant something to the Yondaime?' That would be something to think about later.

"The cause of the seal's fluctuations is solely you."

'What!' "Just what the heck does that mean, Old man?"

"The seal derives its strength from the force of your will, Naruto. The strength that holds the Kyuubi back is yours and yours alone. I wasn't lying when I first told you that this village owes a lot to you. By not giving in to despair, you have managed to keep behind closed bars a being of hatred whose magnitude knows no bounds. It was for this quality that you were the one chosen to be its prison."

The gennin was understandably shaken by the revelation. The villagers depended on his will to hold back the Nine-tails? Then why the hell did they ostracize him and treat him like crap! How the fuck did Yondaime know that he alone would be able to bear the burden and no one else? If he could see the future, shouldn't he have been privy to the treatment he would be given at the hands of the villagers?

Naruto was shaking with barely restrained anger. The person responsible for the life he had chose him out of everyone else that was available, and condemned him from birth. The bastard could have used his own children or at least some kid who already had loving parents and a guaranteed easy life, but no. He had to pick the orphan boy who seemingly dropped out of the sky to his great convenience.

"Why me… Why not someone else… HOW THE HELL DID HE DECIDE!" He couldn't keep himself from shouting. Hot tears ran down his cheeks when all the buried memories sprang out to the forefront of his mind. "WHAT GAVE HIM THE RIGHT, WHO MADE HIM GOD TO DECIDE WHICH PERSON'S LIFE WOULD BE CRAP!"

The boy's body was now wracked with tremors when he couldn't keep away the forgotten pain and loneliness from all those years that rushed up to consume him. The tears now flowed freely from his tightly shut eyes. He was surprised to feel a warm pair of arms embrace him and hold him close.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," the Sandaime's voice was pained as he tried to pacify his grandson in all but name. "I really am. I can't tell you right now why it had to be you, but someday, I will. I promise you that. This wasn't the kind of life he wanted for you and his last wishes were that you would be seen as a hero."

The old man's shoulder getting soaked as Naruto let out all the anguish he had tried to hold back for most of his life. It had been years since he saw the boy cry, but now he could tell that it was long past time he got it out of his system. And he would be there for him all the way.

It was nearly half an hour later that the loud sobs in the room subsided to quiet whimpers. Naruto extricated himself from the Sandaime's hold and wiped his face on his orange sleeve.

"Thanks, Old man. I guess I really needed that." Hiruzen smiled when he saw that the child was able to gain control over his troubles.

"Do you think you're well enough to continue?"

"Hai, I'll be fine now."

Reassured, Hiruzen returned to his seat behind the desk.

"The second and third parts of the seal are what are affected by your subconscious thoughts. Your strong spirit is more than enough to keep Kyuubi contained." Naruto nodded his understanding. He had already come to accept that. "The filter for the youki is tied to your subconscious as well. The reason it fluctuates is because your inner thoughts are in indecision."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you haven't accepted what you are yet."

What you are… What, not who. This was what often sparked his anger.

"You are a jinchuuriki, Naruto. You can throw a fit all you want, but at the end of the day, you will still be a demon container. It is a part of you that can never go away, and as long as you refuse to accept that you're different from everyone else, the seal will recognize that and will remain in indecision as to whether you want the converted chakra from the Kyuubi or not."

"Wait just one friggin' minute here, you're asking me to ACCEPT the KYUUBI as a PART of me? That's never gonna happen, Ojisan, it's ruined my life enough already..."

Sandaime replied calmly, "I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm only telling you that the truth and you know it. It is entirely up to you to accept that facet of your life, and no one else. If you choose not to, you already know that you will never come to grips with your chakra and you'll live with a handicap. If you do however, you might just become one of the strongest ninja in the village."

Naruto could read the subtle hints that the aged veteran was sending his way. Do you want to become Hokage or not? On one hand, he could reject the beast within him, and try to live a relatively normal, though harder life. And on the other hand, accepting his burden would grant him unparalleled stores of chakra that would always be growing, yet it would also mean accepting that he wasn't human, and all the detriments that stemmed from that. It would mean becoming the avatar of the creature the villagers accused him of being everyday.

He couldn't decide right away. He needed time to make his decision. "Ojisan, I need to think about this for a while."

"I completely understand. Just remember, Naruto, that whatever you choose, it won't change the kind of person you are. Nothing can turn you into a monster unless you choose to become one."

The gennin got up from his chair and for a minute gazed outside the Hokage's window to see the village and the Monument.

'If I'm still a person at the end of the day.'

lool

When he left the Tower, Naruto simply wandered around the village, content in appreciating it in its splendor. The children playing along the streets just added to the tranquility in it, as opposed to the chaotic state of his mind. No one he knew here had to make the kind of choice he did. Become a jinchuuriki, or learn to live without the full use of his chakra, most likely becoming a taijutsu specialist like Rock Lee. Each side had its own merits and disadvantages. How the hell was he expected to just pick and choose?

At one time, he'd thought he could go see Iruka about his predicament, but that decision was soon squashed heavily. Iruka-sensei had already done what he could for him, and he would not burden the chuunin with his problems anymore. This was for him and him alone to get through. A pleasantly tangy smell invaded his nose and, looking around, he realized that while he'd been walking he had ended up at Ichiraku's, where the aroma of the tasty noodles was drifting from.

Hmm, a bowl of ramen would probably calm him down some and help him organize his thoughts. His mind made up, he stepped up to the booth and unlike his usual carefree attitude, he politely asked for a bowl of miso ramen.

"Naruto?" In all the years he ate at the stand, Teuchi hadn't seen his biggest customer looking as forlorn as he did now.

"Is something wrong?" he asked as he went about making the order.

The boy who was lost deep in thought at the moment looked up to answer the ramen chef. "I'm alright, Teuchi-jisan, I just have… stuff to think about."

Leaving the ramen to stew, Teuchi turned to face him. "Anything I can do to help? I may not know much to do with ninja business, but these old eyes have seen a lot, you know."

Naruto smiled. This was one of the reasons he liked eating at the tiny restaurant so much. Aside from making conversation just as good as his otherworldly ramen, he could always rely on Teuchi to give him good, sound advice on nearly anything in his life. Seeing Ayame-neechan was a good bonus, but moving on…

"Say, Teuchi-jisan, if you were told you had to make one of two choices that would affect what direction your life took, how would you decide which one was best?"

An interesting question. The man was aware that Naruto had to face some things in his life that nearly no other preteen did. He could only imagine the seriousness in the decision that the boy apparently had to take, and the lack of his usual happy smile just further served to anchor his worries about his long-time friend. He gave his answer while he served the order that was now ready.

"Well, first I'd ask myself which choice will affect the people in my life more," Naruto accepted the chopsticks that were offered and broke them apart. "If a choice has more negative than positive impact on my friends and loved ones, then it's definitely not the way to go."

A quiet, "Itadakimasu." was given and Naruto took a slurp of his noodles. The heat from the broth warmed his body and he took a moment to chew and swallow his mouthful.

"But what about yourself? What if your choice makes life harder for you than everyone else?"

Teuchi just laughed and answered, "Even if it hurt me, do you think I'd really care if it meant an easier life for Ayame in the long-run? I would endure anything for my loved ones, that's the whole point of having them. They are my purpose for living."

What would positively affect his loved ones in the long-run? The concept was something he himself could up with if he wasn't the one in question here. It was surprisingly similar to what Haku had told him,

"I live for my precious people."

So, all he had to do was weigh the pros and cons together and go for the better?

Somehow, he knew it would be a lot harder than just that. Anyhow, the old restaurant owner had worked his magic again and helped him out greatly. His decision would have a basis now, and he would choose not just for himself, but for Sandaime, Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, Gai, Lee and to a lesser extent, team seven. The rest of his meal passed without much talk after he thanked Teuchi for his advice.

lool

Naruto sat in the lotus position on his bed, devoid of all his clothing save for his boxers, trying to steady his breathing in preparation for the first part of the meditative exercise he had gotten from Iruka. The sun had set a few hours ago and darkness had long since settled over the village hidden in the leaves. It had taken that much time for him to make up his mind about what he would do. It was by no means easy, but he figured he could at least get used to it over time. Sandaime was right. Whatever he did, it wouldn't change his stature in the eyes of the few who actually cared about him.

"I can do this…" he murmured to himself. "Clear your mind, think of the place you love most." That wasn't hard. The top of Yondaime's head(ironically) at the Hokage Monument had been his safe haven from the torturing eyes of the villagers for years. The purpose of focusing on this place was to lower his mental barriers and display all his fears and triumphs in an environment that held absolutely no semblance of threat.

It took many minutes before a warm feeling settled around his bare chest which should have been freezing because of the cool night air blowing into the room.

'What the… didn't I close the window when I got home?'

The sound of dripping water prompted him to open his previously shut eyes. He was no longer on his bed but sitting in ankle deep water in a corridor that had a greenish tinge around its walls which were lined with a number of leaking pipes that were dripping more of the water-like fluid. A red fog-like haze that filled the air was the source of the warm feeling which was a just bearable temperature. A bit more and he suspected he would be writhing in agony from it.

Naruto quickly got up from the ground and immediately noticed that he hadn't gotten wet from all water that he was in.

'What is this place?' The red mist was blowing around as if agitated by his arrival. Seeing nothing better to do in the sewer-like corridor he'd found himself in, he cautiously followed the source of the wind and soon reached an ridiculously large room whose ceiling reached so high that light couldn't penetrate the darkness that blanketed the top half of the chamber.

A loud rumble alerted him to the massive bars on the opposite side of the room through which the red passed.

'No way!' he thought as his suspicions as to just where he was were confirmed when a huge bloodshot eye with a ruby-red iris focused on him from behind the bars.

"**We finally meet, face to face**."

The voice was deep and held barely restrained rage. It was lined with an ancient maliciousness not seen in the world since the time of the Sage of the Six Paths. The owner of the voice was unmistakable.

"Kyuubi…" Naruto whispered, feeling especially vulnerable in his boxers under the gaze of the eye of the Nine Tailed Fox.

It spoke again, "**What are you doing**?"

…

"Answer me, **ningen**!"

If he had any shoes on he would have leaped out of them when the beast before him reared up to its full height and roared at him.

Naruto's knees were already shaking when he remembered what Sandaime had told him. 'The strength that holds the Kyuubi back is yours and yours alone.'

Dark laughter filled the chamber. It reverberated off the walls and invisible ceiling causing the water on the ground to ripple.

"**You believe the words of that Old Monkey**?"

His resolve was hardened when he heard the insult to his oldest friend.

"Shut up, fox."

The laughter ceased and Kyuubi bent over to look at him, great jaws wide open in a bloodthirsty grin. The razor sharp teeth looked like they could snap him in half without really trying.

"**I ask you again, what are you doing**?"

"I'm doing what needs to be done, for me, and my precious ones."

"**'Precious ones'? How can you be so sure**?"

Naruto didn't really know what the Nine-tails was playing at and he kept himself guarded.

"I'm sure because they saved me from loneliness and hate. They are the reason I live!"

Kyuubi could see that breaking his will would be a lot more difficult than he had thought it would be. Still, the meditative process Naruto had undergone had lowered his normal defensive barriers and it had every intention of capitalizing on that.

"**Where were your precious ones when you were being persecuted? Where were they when you were all alone at night and crying because you didn't know why everyone hated you**?"

If the Kyuubi had tried this tactic a few days ago it might have had a good chance of working, but now, after releasing his stored up pain in the Sandaime's office, Naruto was prepared for that.

"They might have not been there all that much before, but they are now. That won't work on me, baka kitsune!"

It was time for a change in play…

"**And after today, when you live this place, you'll be closer to me than ever before**,"

It took on what for it must have been a near-caring tone, but frankly it just made Naruto want to spit out at it.

"**Do you believe that they will accept you, then? You know… You know the life you will be accepting. Does it have room for your 'precious ones'**?"

This attempt worked a tad better than the other. Whereas Naruto was prepared to accept the title of Jinchuuriki the life that came with it was less than appealing.

He would not know the comfort of a family. A wife and children would forever be out of his reach, and if by some great miracle he should find a girl who would want to be with him despite what he was, it would be too much of a risk for her. Not only would a demon container's lover be hated, feared and repulsed by the general public, but there was no telling how much the youki in his system had affected his body, and being intimate with anyone may cause irreparable harm to them.

Kyuubi grinned gleefully and pressed on, "**This seal will cause you more pain than you should have to endure**." Indeed, there was a square sheet of paper binding the two middle bars of what it seemed was a large gate holding back the bijuu. "**Take it off! Destroy it, and be rid of this burden! This pathetic piece of paper ties you to me, will you just stand there and let the Yondaime's work condemn you**?"

Therein lay Kyuubi's mistake.

Naruto had actually been slowly slipping. The words of the kitsune, combined with its compelling voice, were making him feel more and more inclined to believe it. He was close to breaking and ripping off the tangible seal that had been the bane of his life and was a current threat to his future when he heard the Kyuubi mentioning the Yondaime's work.

'Your life meant more to Yondaime than you could know…He would not give up his life… make your life harder than it already is.'

'I live for my precious people.'

'I'm sorry… should have helped you earlier.'

'You think I care…my loved ones…they're my reason for living.'

'Your strong spirit is more than enough to keep the Kyuubi contained.'

What was he thinking, he couldn't take off that seal! 'Ojisan's counting on me, I can't let him down. If becoming a jinchuuriki is what it takes to keep them safe, then I will be one, even if I'll never know peace!'

The fox could sense Naruto's indecisiveness clearing up as his clear cut resolve made its way out. It grew enraged that he would deny it freedom when it was oh so close.

The roar of Kyuubi pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Baka-fox! I don't care what happens to me as long as their safe, you hear that!"

"**You can't deny me! You weak insignificant thing, you WILL free me! You can't hold me back**!"

Naruto's true self emerged once when he heard that. The kitsune was nearly taken aback by the sheer force of his gaze that was beating back the red mist into its cage. He seemed to glow as light from the ceiling filled up the room and transformed it into a shining golden antechamber. His bright blue eyes could have bored holes into the Kyuubi's red ones. Its roar was silenced with glance.

"Don't underestimate me, fox! You can't tell me what to do. I make my own decisions, and you WILL do as I say. I don't like it, but I may need your chakra someday, and you WILL give it to me."

He didn't spare the bijuu a chance to reply. The conversation was closed. Naruto willed himself to leave the meditative state he had fallen into, and as he vanished from the chamber, so did the near blinding light from above.

'**Don't underestimate me either, Uzumaki Naruto…**' The Kyuubi's eye closed as it settled into sleep. For now, it would wait for another chance. It would NOT be denied.

lool

Naruto woke up with a start to the sun's rays illuminating his face and realized that he'd fallen asleep while meditating the previous night. He was sprawled over his bed, still dressed in the boxers he'd been wearing when starting the process.

He yawned as he sat up and scratched his butt. 'Something happened yesterday…' He strained to remember and almost immediately recalled his conversation with the Kyuubi. 'I backtalked the strongest bijuu in the planet, IN MY BOXERS!' That was a victory in his book, any day of the week.

While he set about showering, he couldn't help but feel that something about the morning was different.

The feeling didn't go away until he was just about to leap onto the nearest rooftop in readiness to head to his team's meeting place.

'Wait a second, my chakra's… stable.' Ever since he could remember, he'd always had a certain sluggish feel to his insides that he found out later was his badly fluctuating chakra flow. The change should have been obvious to anyone, not just himself. The difference was like night and day. His flow was now smooth, stable and most importantly, it responded when he tried to mould some without a handseal!

An incredibly wide smile grew on his face when he realized just what this meant.

"WOOHOO!" He gleefully yelled as he jumped the highest he ever had into the air. Villagers would later claim to seeing an orange blur racing around Konoha laughing and screaming in joy all the way.

lool

When team seven met for their D-rank for the Day, Kakashi was certain something was different. He just couldn't put his finger on it, but he was completely sure that the large grin that never left Naruto's face since they met up had something to do with it.

'What could it be? He's smiling, he's laughing, he doesn't care that Sakura's wiping the floor with him right now. What is it!'

It didn't take long for the reputed genius to discover what it was that Naruto was so happy about.

His chakra was calm, smooth and controlled to a level that could easily rival his. His eye widened when he realized the kind of power that was in his student's hands now that he had the largest well controlled chakra pool of anyone in Konoha.

'What have you been up to, Naruto?' Whatever it was, he would make sure he got to the bottom of it.

A.N: This is just great! Naruto's finally in control of his chakra just like he should have been from the start. I can't believe some of you thought that Iruka's explanation would be enough. Don't presume to think you know what'll happen next in the story, that's very insulting by the way. I don't think I'm that predictable. Kudos, though, if you can see where I'm going with genjutsu and disrupting chakra. I can confidently say that what's coming is totally original and I'll now be including the rest of the manga characters. I will be basing some developments on the first three chapters and if you haven't read the rewritten versions, hit the back button and do it now. Expect a new chapter by the weekend and I'll do my best to please. Before you ask, no, Naruto's not overpowered, but he's a friggin jinchuuriki of the strongest bijuu! Of course he'll be stronger than most others once he puts his mind to it. Even Gaara from canon was close to jounin level or at it WITHOUT the Ichibi. I won't do any canon plot until the chuunin exams in chapter 9 and a bit beyond. I hope this chapter was reasonably long, and if it wasn't please inform me. Until next time; readmeplease.


	5. Adversary

A.N: This is an adventure story, so it's about time we had some ADVENTURE! Some of the reviews have been answered after the chapter.

() –Words in brackets are interjections from the author or characters themselves that fit the scene.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Adapted from Unacceptable Truths of this World)

Chapter Five: Adversaries. 

Three months since Wave 

It was a glorious morning that our blond hero woke up to. The birds chirping up in the nearby trees were certainly a nice addition to the landscape and enhanced the already tranquil sunrise in the distance. Ever since his problems with his chakra control and the Kyuubi had been resolved, Naruto had felt like a changed man err… boy. It was like some miraculous cure he'd needed in his life and more than once he found himself wondering just why he was so adamant about not accepting what he was.

He sat up in his bed, and a content yawn escaped him as he pulled off his sleeping cap and smiled in the wake of the new day.

The changes he had undergone with just three months of intense training were noticeable in not just the way he moved and acted, but also in his body itself. His muscles had grown to be well defined over his now small undershirts and his cheeks had lost a lot of the baby fat they'd held, courtesy of his improved diet. His growth spurt was one thing he was very pleased with as it now meant that Sakura could no longer look down on him(and consequently hit him) like she used to.

The girl had been more than a little surprised when, after Naruto made a particularly snide comment about Sasuke, the fist that was supposed to have sent him flying was stopped cold by his larger palm and he'd looked down(yes, looked down) into her eyes and told her that he wasn't her bitch anymore.

While Sakura was stunned by the seemingly out of nowhere rebellion, Sasuke had shown his approval towards Naruto for not letting himself be pushed around anymore in his own way,

"Hn. I guess you aren't absolutely hopeless now, deadlast."

Kakashi had just smiled, thinking it was about time his student manned up.

From that day on, he hadn't once referred to Sakura as '-chan', and the poor girl was still undergoing withdrawal at having her immovable pillar of constant support and affection removed in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, the growth spurt also warranted a change in his wardrobe, which would no longer fit him without struggle. He'd nearly ripped his pants when he tried to get them on one morning and had immediately gone to address the issue with a tailor he frequented in his early years. The custom-ordered clothes had arrived two weeks before, and today, he planned to step out into Konoha in all his glory with them.

Laying the new garments on his bed once he'd showered, he inspected them carefully for signs of sabotage (hey, you couldn't be too careful!). The black, sleeveless, zip up jacket was made to be highly resistant to wear, and was lined with mesh armor underneath. No loose threads there… Hmm, should he wear the larger white short-sleeved shirt, or the more form fitting, long-sleeved dark blue shirt? He opted for the white one. He was just going out to refine his self-created ninjutsu and wasn't going to meet up with his team until tomorrow.

He wasn't really looking to impress anyone, right?

lool

Nigai Kusuri was feeling especially sad today. The retired jounin had taken a day off of work to pay his respects to his dead wife and daughter, who had perished in the aftermath of the damage that was wrought by the Kyuubi.

Today may not have been the day Kyuubi was defeated, but it would have been his and Aki's tenth wedding anniversary, which was coincidentally his little girl's fifth birthday. He made it a point every year on this day to visit their graves, while on October tenth he would whole-heartedly celebrate the defeat of the Kyuubi along with the rest of the village.

When he heard Aki's killer had been sealed into a new-born child, he'd first wanted to slaughter the little thing with his bare hands. That is, until he was informed that its imprisonment was to be its punishment. He calmed down after a while on hearing that, a lifetime of suffering was a just fate in his eyes and his family would be avenged, the Yondaime's name be praised for that.

He nearly went mad with rage when Sandaime ordered his shinobi force to show respect to the monster for saving the village. This wasn't the justice he'd been promised and if those were the Sandaime's wishes then he would no longer serve under the man. Blinded by his hurt, he resigned from active duty and took to civilian life, silently mourning for his loss. They called him emotionally strong because his eyes held no tears, but if only they knew how much he was crying blood in his heart and spirit.

Over time, Kusuri had watched the Uzumaki grow and the loathing he held never once left him as he watched the abomination act as if it was a normal child and at times, he had to restrain himself lest he lash out at it. How it mocked him! Strutting around, knowing nothing of the hurt he felt.

Oh, how he wished he could deal it as much pain as it had to him. Too bad, it's only friends were powerful people or those who held important seats. He couldn't just waltz up to them and kill them to hurt him. The hokage was definitely a no-go, and the chuunin instructor would be highly missed. Besides, he had skills close to his own level. The ramen stand owner was not close enough to him and he would NOT bring down on the old man the same pain he had felt losing his daughter.

So, killing anyone was out of the question. Either way, he was against using others to get to someone if it left them unnecessarily dead. He would need to go straight for his intended target and he knew just how to do it. He just needed to capitalize on the monster's almost insatiable need for attention and recognition.

The Sandaime's law basked their young ones in ignorance and in turn made them sympathize with the Kyuubi's vessel. If they ever came to know the truth, the loneliness it had no doubt felt in its short human life would be multiplied tenfold. Nothing in the world would make him happier than to see the beast in the complete isolation that was known to have broken many a powerful ninja.

A lifetime of madness was indeed fitting justice in his eyes.

Unfortunately, HE couldn't break the news to the youth. To do so would be inviting death. The damned law gave all ninja permission to kill on sight should the Kyuubi and its host be mentioned in one sentence. IT had to be the one to deliver the news for the full impact. But how to get it to do so…

The commotion directly outside his pharmacy attracted his attention at once when he saw that the blond brat he was plotting against was involved.

lool

Kiba's loud voice could be heard from a good distance away, "Hey, Dropout, you looking for a fight or something, 'cos I'm ready to go, right here, right now! Akamaru…" The puppy barked in confirmation.

"Kiba-kun, please, it's just a misunderstanding…" Came the shy voice of Hinata.

Naruto cut in, "Yeah, I told you already dog-breath. It was an accident and I didn't mean to hold her there. I slipped and fell!"

He'd been too caught up in his thoughts of modifying his latest technique to notice the timid girl in his way until they bumped heads and she was knocked over.

He had immediately apologized and moved to help her up when he slipped on a discarded mango peel and, while his hands were flailing to find support, landed on her, heavily groping her chest.

The deep blush on her face had yet to fade, showing how much the situation had left her feeling embarrassed, or could it be that she was turned on? If not for how sudden the whole thing was she would have no doubt already fainted from all the blood in her head. It also helped that Kiba was trying to pick a fight with the boy she had a crush on for 'defiling his teammate'.

Naruto had remained somewhat calm throughout the accusation. "I'm not looking for anything, you dumb mutt. I already said sorry, and I've got go or I'm going to be late for something…"

Kiba growled back, "Don't you turn your back on me, Uzumaki!" The truth was he would take any chance he had to humiliate Naruto. He himself had a small crush on Hinata and seeing them like he had… It made him want to stomp all over the guy, if only just to make Hinata finally see that he was much better than the taller blond oaf. Wait, taller…?

'Hah, as if a few extra inches and better clothes will even give him a chance against me and Akamaru!' the Inuzuka thought as he geared himself up for a brawl.

"Kiba!" the stern call made him freeze in the process of falling into his family's fighting stance.

Yuuhi Kurenai's eyes looked like they could have burned holes in his jacket. He almost swore that they were glowing a menacing shade of red. Caught in the act, he could only mumble out, "Kurenai-sensei…" while turning to look away from her in shame. Why did she have to show up and ruin everything?

Kurenai sighed wearily. 'What am I going to do with him?' Her big sister instincts made her want to give her student's ear a good boxing until he was regretting picking a fight in the middle of the street with a fellow Konoha ninja. This was really embarrassing for a newly promoted jounin like her.

"Sorry about that Naruto-san. Kiba really likes to show off." The aforementioned boy yelped, "Ite!" when she clamped her hand down hard on his head.

Naruto just waved it off, "It's alright Kurenai-sensei," he put on a grin. "Kiba's more bark than bite anyway."

Kurenai nearly rolled her eyes at that. Here she was, thinking he would play the bigger man. Kids nowadays…

"Anyway," he continued, "I've gotta run. Sorry again, Hinata. I'll see you around later, tell Shino I said hi."

The girl blushed deeper if it was even possible as he jumped away onto the nearest rooftop.

Kurenai gave Hinata a knowing smile while Kiba groaned about how he'd been cheated out. 'Not a bad one you've got your eye on. I just hope he doesn't break your heart, Hinata, if he knows what's good for him…'

Like nearly everyone else who was up to date on the fresh gennin teams, she'd heard of how Kakashi's student had dropped his almost infallible crush on the second best kunoichi from the academy and hoped that he wouldn't endear to someone else before Hinata got the courage to voice her fancies to him.

It wasn't advisable to encourage relationships among individuals in their line of work, since it could work both ways either to make or destroy a perfectly working rapport, not to mention the mortality rates always against them. But how could she resist, the girl was like her little sister and they knew each other since before the academy. If she wanted the boy, and he was good enough, she had her support all the way.

One of these days she would have to find someone nice to settle down with. Kurenai gathered her students, slapping Kiba's head for his continued use of colorful language, and together they left the market area to meet with their third teammate.

Someone else had watched what was going on and was planning to make use of what he'd learned.

'So, the Hyuuga Heiress has a crush on him. He also seems to have some kind of affection towards her.' He had seen it in the Uzumaki's eyes. Regret? Appreciation? Whatever it was, he now had another player in his game, and it might just make to serve his ends.

lool

'Ram, Ox, Horse, Rat!' Naruto's fingers flowed through the handseals. He extended the first two fingers of his right hand to point at the painted target on a tree, twenty five meters in front of him.

'**Chakra yari(Chakra lance)!**'He thought as a small light glowed softly on the tips of his fingers for a second before a straight beam erupted from it to punch a hole through the target and the tree behind it. He cancelled the jutsu after about five seconds and moved to inspect its effects.

The pure chakra spear had cut an even hole through the dead center of the target, showing he had refined his aim somewhat. The edges of the hole were still a little too burned out for his taste which meant that he hadn't maintained the shell of the spear as well as he would have wanted. Otherwise, his new jutsu's performance was satisfactory. He smiled in the wake of his success.

Among the many theoretical experiments that Naruto had conducted before he was able to work with his chakra, the most promising (and yielding) one was the variation of the chakra ratio input to individual handseals in jutsu. He'd been itching for months to try it out and had spent hours near-perfecting the basic ninjutsu he got from the Library so that he could begin tweaking them to change their effects.

The idea had come to him as he read about how in battle, a shinobi usually poured in more chakra at the last handseal of a jutsu while performing it. This was of course as a result of the stressful situation, and some jutsu like the **Katon: Goukakyu/Fire release: Grand fireball **had the advantage in this as the last handseal, the tiger seal, increased the range of the attack further than it would have been in a non-combat situation.

Hours of studying later, Naruto was able to gain enough technical know-how to alter the ratio in which chakra was molded by handseals and predict the changes that would come from the alterations. Already he had modified a number of the techniques he could perform, not including his original ones, to have more subtle or more destructive effects, or just generally work differently from how they usually did.

The only downside to using his new, improved jutsu was that the one performing them would need to be of clear mind and in control of his chakra flow enough to alter it against their instinctual nature. Luckily, he had both these qualities.

The applications of his new and modified ninjutsu were enormous. Most opponents he would come to face would see him doing the handseals for a specific technique, only to find the performed jutsu to be almost completely different from the one they were expecting. In such a battle, the element of surprise would undoubtedly be his!

Just feeling like it, Naruto rattled off the handseals for one of his most destructive jutsu.

"**Katon: Chou Goukakyu no jutsu/Fire release: Giant Grand fireball technique!**"

The great plume that fired off into the sky would have made Sasuke's own technique look like a tiny campfire in comparison, considering it was nearly thirty meters at its widest. Even in the fairly large clearing, the rising flames still nearly licked the leaves closest to them that were fast drying up from the rippling heat. Just the illumination would have made anyone turn away wincing, given it was rivaling the sun in intensity.

Had he not pointed the technique upwards, Naruto's fireball would have started a blazing forest fire half the size of Konoha. Yeah, that would be really helpful, considering the villagers were already treating him like HE was the one who tried to destroy their homes twelve years ago.

He cut off the chakra and watched the last of the flames leave his mouth. What he had just done was sacrifice the range of the jutsu for its size and the heat of the flames. The only reason it had extended so far was because it was facing the sky, letting the heat rise and carry it further upwards.

That would make quite the signal for anyone who was looking for him from Konoha. Most people had to have been blind not to see that! The first time he tried it out, he was nearly attacked by a passing chuunin and it had taken a trip to the Hokage Tower to dispel the woman's fears that he was out to destroy the village.

The **goukakyu** itself Naruto had pilfered from hours of carefully studying Sasuke. The avenger was particularly flamboyant with it in their now more heated spars, so it wasn't that hard to observe.

He had, of course, been very careful not to use his new jutsu within sight of the sharingan. He didn't have anything against someone learning to use his techniques, but the fact that it was _Sasuke_ of all people made him not reveal even a hint of the things he often came up with. If the guy really was as smart as they made him out to be, he should be making HIS own jutsu, not stealing others'.

That the mentioned genius could copy all his hard work with a glance AND turn it against him was still a bit of a sore spot as far as he was concerned.

His relationship with his fellow gennin had not improved much though it differed by bucketloads.

FLASHBACK

"Alright, we'll keep today's spar short." Kakashi informed his students who looked about ready to beat the crap out of each other. Their rivalry had stepped up a notch once Naruto revealed what he was capable of. Seeing the sparks fly between the two gennin made the jounin remember exactly why he enjoyed being their sensei.

'I love this job.' He thought with a short chuckle as he brought down his arm in a gesture to start and stowed away his book to watch the two duke it out as much as he would allow.

Sasuke, in all confidence of his taijutsu abilities being superior to Naruto's, charged in with his sharingan activated and tried to end the fight using a quick shot at the blond's nose while he feinted with a leg-sweep .

Prior to his training with his fuzzy browed best friend, Naruto would have fallen for the trick but he simply grabbed the extended foot and, turning his head to avoid the jab, he pulled to throw off Sasuke's balance. He then went for a palm thrust at his opponent's exposed chest.

Seeing the blow coming, Sasuke tried to dodge but his body movement was restricted due to Naruto holding fast to his foot. The hit knocked the wind out of him but the other fighter had been holding back since it was just a spar. Therein lay his mistake. The dark haired boy contorted his body to lash out with his other leg at his rival's head but he was forcefully thrown off to roll over the ground.

'Perfect!' he thought as he readied the handseals for the jutsu he knew his teammate wouldn't see coming until it hit him. His clan jutsu never failed him, this spar would be no different. Naruto had come close to beating him a few times before, as a more dangerous opponent, he would need to be taken out as fast as possible.

Sakura had yet to get over the fact that Naruto could go toe to toe with Sasuke without even breaking a sweat, and she was in a predicament unsure of who to support as she watched the two go at each other with the kind of skill she could only dream of achieving.

Should she cheer for Sasuke-kun and show her undying devotion to him? Or should she try to regain Naruto's now evaporated affections for her and be reassured of a contingency plan should her advances towards the cutest of the rookie nine fail?

Her less popular teammate certainly looked more appealing now that he had ceased his idiotic tendencies, and it made her feel worse knowing she was now the weakest on the team. Naruto had always been stronger than she was, but she always overlooked it, preferring to judge him based on his lack of finesse when compared to her crush. Now, with the VERY fitting clothes he wore and confident smile on his face replacing the annoying cocky grin he used to wear, she wished she hadn't been so quick to dismiss him.

As Sasuke readied his jutsu, she wondered just how much those two had left her behind.

Kakashi noticed the melancholic state of the female team member, but before he could do anything about it, ninjutsu were simultaneously launched by the combatants.

"**Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu!**" was called out first. The flames hid Naruto from Sasuke as he flashed through his own handseals for an immediate counter.

"**Suiton: Mizurappa/Water release: Water trumpet!**"

The two elements gave rise to steam as Sasuke's fireball was put out by Naruto's larger pillar of water. The vapor filled the immediate area blocking them both from sight. The sharp clang of clashing weapons was heard when the shuriken hidden in Sasuke's fireball were deflected. Nevertheless, he felt the snag of the wires in his fingers that indicated his opponent was trapped in them.

'Yes!' The victory was already counted as he pulled hard to hogtie his unfortunate victim.

Not having enough experience with using the sharingan in low visibility, he missed the strike that came at his legs. It forced him on his knees and before he could comprehend what was happening, he found himself lying on his chest with a kunai held at his throat.

"Concede?" the question was asked almost lazily. Sasuke's murderous glare would have had better effect had he been looking at Naruto.

'How did he escape that!' The plan was foolproof, he hadn't even used it before in a fight. Just how did he counter it?

"Alright, that's enough!" Kakashi called out, blowing the steam away with a flare of his chakra like he had with Zabuza's mist. "This win goes to Naruto. Sasuke," he lowered his gaze to the now released boy who was still lying flat on his stomach. "You have some catching up to do." He finished saying with his patented eye-smile.

The Uchiha survivor was seething inside, though it didn't show on his cool exterior. 'Naruto,' he thought, with as much mirth as he could muster in his mind. 'How can you have surpassed me? Do I not have enough hate to beat even you? Is this the worthlessness that made Itachi not want to kill me?'

He purposefully pushed away the hand offered by the boy who was failing to gloat like he would have a few weeks ago. Sasuke would have felt better if Naruto was milking the victory for what it was worth, as another point to their rivalry, instead of acting like the win was to be expected. Like how he himself acted when he was the one who won.

Kakashi was impressed with the level of strategy shown by his now no-longer-the-shortest student.

Holding back on his ninjutsu until Sasuke's vision was impaired so as not to have them copied and used against him, then in the low visibility of the mist switching with a shadow clone was a brilliant move worthy of himself. His humility had gone up a notch too if the way he was trying to help Sasuke up and the lack of him lording over his teammate was anything to go by. Or was he one of the victory in silence types now?

'I wonder where he learnt Suiton jutsu from? That wasn't a normal Mizurappa.' He hadn't had his sharingan uncovered but he felt the change in his chakra levels while the jutsu was being used, and it was different from usual. He would inquire about this later, now that practice was over, a little Icha Icha was in order.

Sakura was stunned. Naruto just beat Sasuke! Never in a million years would she have thought it possible. It was as unlikely as her agreeing in public to go out on a date with him! (though the chances of her doing just that had steadily been rising recently). Sure, he had improved a lot lately, but she was fairly certain that Sasuke was still better than him, most ways.

She was seeing Naruto in a new light as he unsealed a waterflask from a scroll he'd pulled out from… somewhere and took refreshed gulps from it. His eyes were filled with the same light she had seen when they were returning home from the mission in Wave. When he turned to face her and gave her a small smirk, she looked away hurriedly to hide the growing blush on her face.

'What's wrong with me?' she asked herself as all kinds of feelings for him she wasn't used to began assaulting her.

Naruto was pleased he had been able to test out his new and improved Water Trumpet technique without anyone being the wiser. He wasn't sure the larger volume of water he'd spouted from his mouth would retain the same properties as the normal version of the jutsu, however, his worries were for naught because it held up beautifully.

Naruto smirked at Sakura when he saw her looking at him in awe. It was just too tempting, he had to taunt her for Sasuke's loss, which was a little satisfying given how often she compared him to he-who-could-do-no-wrong-in-her-eyes. But apparently, from the way the girl turned sharply with a red hue on her cheeks the message was misinterpreted.

He frowned at that, he really didn't want her getting any ideas that he was interested in her THAT way. That ship had sailed years ago, the first time she made fun of him with the other kids when he asked her to help him with a question in class. She would be lucky just to make it to his close friends list.

END FLASHBACK

Naruto, sweating from working most of the two hours he was in the clearing, lay on his back on the soft grass under a tree, safe from the sun's bright rays, and watched the grayish clouds that were slowly floating southwards. Things were really dull nowadays and he found himself wishing he had more exciting things to do.

Like beating Sasuke up again. Cutting loose in a fight felt really good, yet he had been unable to unleash his full potential. He was seriously considering asking Kakashi for a fight just to know where he really stood in terms of skill.

'So… sleepy.' His thoughts were fast fading to black, what with the gentle breeze taking away the day's harsh heat, caressing his sensitive cheeks as it swirled around, and around… it wasn't long before he was snoring with his mouth wide open, sprawled over the greenery.

Kusuri was in luck. The colossal flame that shot off into the sky was a dead giveaway to the Kyuubi boy's presence. He had already initiated the first few steps to his plan and was now getting ready to put the final pieces in place.

After witnessing the kind of power the monster wielded in the form of the jutsu that was used just a few minutes ago, he nearly faltered in his resolve, but the thought of his deceased wife and child gave him the strength to carry on. Soon, he would avenge them soon.

lool

Naruto's comfortable nap was interrupted when his ninja instincts kicked in and, with eyes wide open, he pushed himself off the ground, settling into a modified Goken/Iron fist stance with a kunai ready in his hand for battle. He might not have looked like it, but he was a very light sleeper, a by-product of his upbringing, back when he feared the worst from the villagers when he was unable to defend himself.

His actions were actually unnecessary, and he realized this when all he saw was a piece of paper pinned to the nearest tree's bark by a single senbon. It was fluttering about even though there was little breeze to stir it, indicating it had just been thrown.

'The hell…?' he wondered when his eyes finally focused in the early afternoon sun to identify the parchment as a note. Watching out for signs of traps or ambush, he walked over to where it was and pulled it off the tree, fully inspecting it to make sure it wasn't a disguised explosive tag.

Once certain it was safe to do so, he read what was written on it, careful not to lower his guard while he did. No one was going to sneak up on him if he had any say in it.

'THE HYUUGA GIRL'S LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS NOW. IF YOU WANT HER TO LIVE, YOU WILL REVEAL YOUR SECRET TO **EVERYONE** IN KONOHA. IT IS PAST TIME FOR YOUR JUDGMENT.'

'Who in the world… ! Fuck that, why would they want to hurt Hinata? She hasn't done anything! What the heck would me tell everyone about the Kyuubi accomplish?' It could have been any Hyuuga girl as far as he knew, but Hinata was the only logical fit since she was the sole Hyuuga he associated with. Unless he had another hidden admirer somewhere…

Seeing there was more to the writings, Naruto read on,

'YOU HAVE THREE HOURS TO COMPLY. PAST THAT TIME, I WILL REVEAL THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU AND THE KYUUBI MYSELF, AND KILL THE HYUUGA. I SHALL DO THE SAME IF YOU TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS. THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME.' For intimidation purposes, there was a lock of dark-blue-bordering-black hair stapled to the note.

Okay, it was official. This guy was stark raving mad!

'I know I never pranked anyone enough to warrant this. This has to be some kind of joke!' He immediately set off towards Konoha to look for the shy, sweet girl and confirm the whole thing to be some kind of ruse that was definitely NOT funny.

lool

The last thing she remembered was Shino asking her to help him get some bug containers that he'd left behind when they were returning to the village from their joint training session at one of the training grounds in the outskirts of Konoha. Kurenai-sensei and Kiba had already gone on ahead, so she dutifully went back to assist their last team member from falling behind further. Something had seemed off about him then, now that she thought about it.

'Shino-kun doesn't forget anything behind, and his bugs can get it back for him if he needs it.' Hinata would have whined had her lungs not felt so sore. Her family always made her out to be a poor excuse for a ninja and getting tricked and ambushed like she had made every word they said seem true to her.

'I… I… I can't let this get me down!' Her rediscovered fire was partly due to knowing that her idol, Naruto, would never let anything put him down, even when he screwed up, he would get back up and figure out what to do next. Especially in the recent times after undergoing his transformation. She honestly thought it was a better look for him since it brought out his best qualities to the fullest for all to see.

Pushing aside thoughts of the boy she cared deeply for to keep from getting sidetracked further, she forced her eyes to open and saw that she was laying on her side on the floor in a small wooden shack of some kind. The light filtering through the cracks in the walls and ceiling showed that it was still day though she couldn't be sure what time it was from the slant and color of the rays.

When she shifted about, she wasn't surprised to find she was bound at the hands and feet. The knots looked to be really good too, whoever had done them must've been a professional. Ninja obviously…

"Good, you're awake."

The voice made her whip her head towards the very centre of the tiny room. A man sat in a meditative position with his hands in the dragon seal and breathing slowly, yet evenly. She couldn't see his face because it was covered by a black face mask up to just under his eyes. Likewise, his hair was hidden by a forest-green bandanna, and from the way it fit, she judged that it was either really short or incredibly smooth.

Continuing her inspection, she was surprised to see that he wore the standard Konoha jounin flak-vest and uniform, the variation being that his sleeves were rolled up to the elbows to display heavily scarred arms. She winced in sympathy when she set her eyes on those. Getting them must have been unbearably painful, they looked like the skin was thrown into a meat grinder then churned twice.

Seeing where her gaze was directed, the man laughed at the look in her eye, "It looks nasty, doesn't it?"

Hinata was not sure what to have expected, but his voice could have calmed her down had this person not been the one who had obviously kidnapped her. Honestly, she had expected ninja from Kumo, since they had tried to take her before, so many years ago in the failed diplomatic mission, not a ninja from her village.

He continued, completely assuming that she was still listening, "I got these scars trying to lift a burning house off my wife and daughter. The medics couldn't save the skin on my arms without cutting off the burnt parts. As you can see, they didn't heal up right. But that's fine. If they help me remember how I failed to save them," his voice turned sadder, and echoed of anguish. "I won't ever repeat the mistake, will I?"

"What do you want from me?" her voice was soft and held a tiny hint of fear, not for herself, but the people she knew would be saddened were she to die. The man had tried to butter her up by sharing his sob story. He was obviously after something from her if he wasn't out to kill her, yet…

"I want to talk to you about something. How are you feeling?"

What was this man playing at? He wasn't making harsh demands, but Hinata knew not to get her hopes up. She was fully aware of the dangers female kunoichi faced when captured by enemy ninja.

"I'm a bit sore in the chest," she said slowly, trying to gauge his reaction. He seemed genuinely relieved to hear that.

"Good, it means the tranquilizer is working its way out of your blood."

She decided to get straight to the point of why she was there. Keeping him talking might give her more time to find a way out of the situation…even if he was a jounin and the odds were against her. "What do you want to talk about that you had to kidnap me to say?"

Her memory of the attempt to get the byakugan by the Hidden Cloud village had given her a confidence in knowing she was not the same helpless little girl she was all those years ago. She had never gotten over the fact that someone died because she wasn't able to defend herself, even if a little bit.

The jounin got up from the floor, and leaning on one of the support beams beside a wall with his arms crossed he stared off into the opposite side of the room. "Tell me what you know of the Kyuubi attack, twelve years ago."

lool

Naruto was panicking when he realized that an hour had passed since he got the note and he still hadn't got even a whiff of the dark haired girl from team eight. No one had seen her since she left from her training session with her team.

Deciding to heed the message's warning for the time being, he had deflected the questions about why he was looking for her, saying he wanted to 'properly apologize' for the encounter they'd had earlier.

Whatever was going on made Naruto really afraid for her and he was considering going to the Sandaime for help.

'This is between you and me… What does that even mean? I'm sure I don't know anyone who could do something like this. Maybe it's a test from Kakashi-sensei, he's always telling us to look underneath the underneath.'

He pulled out the note that he'd kept with him. Going over it thrice, he failed to uncover some hidden message held in its words or the paper itself. Nevertheless, he needed to find Kakashi and make sure that this wasn't one of the jounin's really messed up tests.

lool

"Kakashi-sensei!" It had taken Naruto nearly half an hour to find his sensei… in the bookstore about to purchase some new porn.

The blond was angry with himself for not thinking to look here earlier.

"Hey, Naruto, good to see you." The man gave one of his eye smiles. He had witnessed the massive ball of fire in the far distance earlier in the day (along with several other influential individuals), and immediately knew his more energetic student was responsible. Few others in Konoha had the kind of reserves to pull off something like that for practice, and there was no hostile chakra involved so that ruled out the possibility of a fight taking place.

He was happy to find that the boy had advanced so much on his own. If only Sakura could get practical too, then he would seriously begin teaching the three of them properly.

As they were, the only reason he'd even considered giving Sasuke the training exercise while they were in Wave Country was because of the threat Zabuza posed, and he needed Obito's remaining family to stay alive. He knew now that his actions were a bit unfair and he'd been careful not to repeat his mistake, but the truth was, as a team, they were just not ready for the kind of training he wanted to put them through.

To him, they were his soldiers, not children to be coddled. He didn't leave ANBU to become a babysitter in all but name.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei," He was brought out of his thoughts. "Is there anything going on today?"

"Hmm?" 'Why would he ask me that?'

The ninken user made a show of thinking, complete with a finger tapping his chin, before replying, "Well, other than the new Icha Icha Sidedish book coming out, I don't think we planned for anything."

Naruto slapped his forehead in frustration.

"Why, is there anything you were expecting?" the suspicion his voice held could have been measured with a dropper.

"No," the boy seemed to be considering something. "By the way, have you seen Hinata today?" Naruto's eyes seemed to narrow slightly in anticipation of his answer.

"Hyuuga Hinata… No I don't think I have. Were you looking for her?" 'Now, just what does she have to do with this?'

Naruto's face fell. He wasn't lying. Kakashi really hadn't seen her. If he had, he would have given him some kind of riddle to solve or something. This left only one option available to him, and he needed to hurry. Time was running out.

"Yeah, I was. I have to apologize to her for something that happened earlier." The lie just rolled off his tongue. He'd been giving the same excuse to everyone who asked him that. "I gotta go somewhere. See you around, sensei." With that, he headed off to his next destination.

Kakashi wasn't one to give up a good mystery when it presented itself, especially in these boring times, and right now, Naruto's behavior was VERY mysterious.

The fact that he was supposedly learning some kind of new souped-up ninjutsu just added to it. He quickly made up his mind to shadow the blond for the rest of the day. The new book could wait a few more hours, there was going to be a long queue for it soon anyway. He could always leave behind a shadow clone to buy it for him.

lool

Hinata couldn't believe what she'd heard. Naruto was the sealed form of the Nine-Tailed Fox! But… how, why? The explanation of what the Yondaime had done was clear, but… It just didn't add up.

"Why should I believe anything you say? For all I know, you could just be trying to turn me against my friend."

The man didn't start protesting immediately, which meant he wasn't completely insane. She couldn't be sure which she preferred at this point.

"Do you think that it's a coincidence he doesn't have any family anyone's ever heard of? Or the marks on his face, how would you explain THEM?"

She defended him immediately, "He has a family name! That shows got relatives somewhere, and even if he doesn't, it won't mean he never did. The marks could be a family bloodline, or kekkei genkai or something."

"No," he shook his head. "The last Uzumaki lived in Konoha, but she never had children. She died in the Kyuubi attack and the _hokage_," Kusuri seemingly spat the title out. "Honored her, by naming that thing after the last of the Uzumaki. He told us so himself."

Hinata remained firm even with the evidence staring her in the face, "No. You don't know him like I do, he's never hurt anyone beyond a few harmless pranks! He's kind and doesn't like seeing others in pain…He is not the Kyuubi, he can't be!"

The Nigai survivor sighed in disappointment. He was hoping that once the Uzumaki's biggest supporter among the youth saw sense he would have a failsafe to fall upon should the demon container somehow find a way to foil his plot. He wasn't oblivious to his reputation as the most surprising ninja in Konoha. He'd also grossly underestimated just how much support he had in the Hyuuga.

He decided to try once more, after this he was done negotiating. "I have followed him ever since I learned what he was. He may not be the fox now, thanks to Yondaime, but he still has sins to atone for. My wife and daughter's spirits will not rest until justice has been dealt."

Hinata strained against the binds in frustration. This person… What did he really have to gain from that? "How can you say that! How do you know that what you're doing right now is what they'd want?"

Kusuri's eyes narrowed at her in barely restrained anger. His body shook from the meaning she implied in her words. How dare she talk as if she knew them! "Listen, Hyuuga. I don't know what they want, because they aren't here to tell me, and it's that monster's fault."

He didn't give her a chance to respond to that. A cloth soaked in the sleeping drug was pressed firmly over Hinata's nose and mouth. She could only get out a squeak before her thoughts went black and she slumped awkwardly in the ropes, instantly knocked out.

Kusuri lay down the sleeping girl in a less aggravating position, his medical training working subconsciously to make sure she wasn't in risk of getting strangled by the collar of her hooded jacket. He was so close to getting his revenge and no one, not even the clearly confused girl below him would keep him from it.

lool

Naruto banged on the door in front of him as loudly as he could. Iruka just HAD to be in.

The door opened.

"Hey, Iruka-seeee… Eh?"

The chuunin instructor blushed at being seen in his multi-color cloud patterned pajamas. What made it even funnier was how they appeared to be hastily thrown on, not that Naruto immediately understood the meaning of that little detail. Neither would he need to if Iruka had his way. "Uhhh, you better come in." the door was shut quickly to keep the neighbours from seeing his state once the boy had made it inside.

"You were still asleep?" Naruto deadpanned. "It's three in the afternoon!"

"I work at the academy," Iruka defended himself, secretly relieved that Naruto hadn't gotten wind of what he was really doing. "It's a stressful job, and I sleep in whenever I have a chance. Anyway, what's on your mind?"

'Oh, yeah!' his distracted mind jolted in remembrance. "Remember all those times you chased me after a prank back at the academy,"

Iruka chuckled from the memories. Thank Kami another Naruto never surfaced. One was all he could take in his lifetime. "Yeah, I do…"

No words were minced. He didn't have time to stroll down memory lane. "How did you find me when no one else could?" the gennin blurted out. "And don't say it's 'cos you know me so well, I always made sure to hide in new places but you caught me anyway."

"Well, there's no harm in telling you," Iruka sat himself on his couch, wordlessly inviting his former student to do the same. "It's called the Chakra Pulse."

His eyes widened slightly in mild surprise "Chakra Pulse? I've never heard of it."

"I didn't expect you would, it was developed after the Wars and got lost, forgotten over time. It was never a practical thing, you see, since Chakra Sensors were more popular then, plus you could never tell who you detected using it unless you knew their chakra signatures really well. But why would you want to know about it? I doubt anyone but a few jounin know it now." He was curious as to what the boy was up to, to come looking for him on a Saturday afternoon.

"I need to find someone and you're the best chance I've got of doing it."

"Mmm…" He was understandably reluctant. He didn't really feel like getting out of the house on such short notice to look for someone he might not even know, especially when there was someone else waiting for him to return to his bedroom. If he took too long, she might decide the wait wasn't worth it.

Still, he couldn't turn away a friend in need.

"I don't think I'll be available to help you right now," Naruto nearly cried out after hearing that. "But I can teach you how to do it right now if you want. Your control's good enough, so I think it should only take a few minutes." 'For my sake, really hope it does. Naruto, PLEASE be predictable this time!' He screamed in silent prayer while laughing nervously on the outside.

'Finally!' "Alright, let's do this then!" the overjoyed blond yelled out in his happiness, accidentally slipping into his old persona.

"Fine, fine. Mold chakra to cover your skin in a thin layer and hold it for a second."

He did as asked, using a ram seal to help him handle his energy. What was next? Some kind of really super cool move, no doubt…

"Now let it go in one focused burst."

It was so simple, it wasn't even funny. THIS was how he had been caught all those times so long ago? Preposterous! "Eh! That's it?"

"That's it."

Naruto released the chakra and focused it in Iruka's general direction. The result was… weird. It could only be described as looking at a sketchy silhouette of the person in front of him.

"What was that?"

Iruka went into lecture mode, despite the little voice ranting at him to hurry up in his mind. "That was your coils trying to pick up the spill, but instead picking up the bounce of the chakra you just released. Think of it as some kind of echolocation. You get a two-dimensional image of the chakra signature of the person within your range. You can't use it to identify someone unless you know the feel of their chakra really well, but you should be able to use it creatively enough. You can even sense signatures through most solid objects."

Naruto thought about this for a moment. While he certainly didn't know Hinata's signature well enough to identify her all at once it wouldn't even matter if she was outside the village.

"So why was this thing forgotten, again?" he asked, not seeing how such a useful thing wouldn't be known by everyone.

"If it could be used in a three hundred and sixty degree direction from one position, then it would be practical. Otherwise, it has no real use against some jutsu like Kirigakure no jutsu. Also, maintaining it while searching blind for a constantly moving target can be a bit of a hassle. The only reason I used it with you was because I knew you well enough to tell which places you liked hiding."

'So it was because he knew me so well… Heh, guess I'm not so unpredictable after all.' All this didn't matter anyway, he would just have to work with what he was given for now. It was necessary that he use subtle means to find her, otherwise he could tip off the guy who was holding her hostage.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei, this'll really be a big help."

"You're welcome." He ushered Naruto out of his home before any more questions could be asked. "Now, I believe you have someone to find. Good luck, and I'll try to see you around. Bye!" The door was closed right in his face.

'He sure seemed in a hurry to get me out…'

"Iruka, how much longer?" a female voice called from the man's bedroom.

"He's gone now, Hikari!" he pacified the colleague whom he had been sharing a bed with before his former student came calling.

"Good! Get back in here you, I'm REALLY fired up right now…" she purred out in a beckoning manner.

'Kami, that sounded so HOT!'

An uncharacteristic grin spread across his face. They weren't really dating, but they were always there to give each other comfort when needed (not to mention the sex!). Hey, he had his needs just like every other warm-blooded male.

Naruto would never know how close he came to ruining Iruka's afternoon.

lool

'Aaargh!' a certain someone yelled out in his mind.

How hard was it to find one person among the thousands living in Konoha, you ask? Near, damn impossible! Even while sending out Pulses every other minute while searching for her, Naruto was still nowhere close to finding Hinata. The fuzzy images barely helped, and he more than once confused random people for his targets.

He stopped running to catch his breath for a few minutes. He only had about twenty minutes left, and even though he didn't really care if everyone got to find out about the bijuu in his belly button, he couldn't just leave his first childhood friend at the mercy of a madman. He had no guarantee that the guy/woman would hold to their promise to let her go.

Laughter attracted his attention to the two children playing nearby. The ball they were throwing was bouncing off a wall and into the hands of one after being thrown by the other. His mind calmed down as he watched the hypnotic movement of the big orange object which was punctuated by the giggling of one of the kids.

Naruto sighed, really regretting his wish for life to pick up the pace. 'Why can't things be that simple for me?'

He'd always wished he could have someone to play with like that when he was younger. Those kids didn't have any idea how good they had it. Sure, the adults didn't physically hurt him, but it was painful enough keeping him away from their children while telling them to stay away from him. Even with Hinata, who he knew held some kind of endearment to him, he couldn't get close to. It might have ruined her already shaky standing with her clan.

Ever since he saved her from the bullies tormenting her years ago, he'd wanted nothing more than to get to know her and become best friends with her. He soon came to know that he had as good a chance of getting close to the Hyuuga heiress as a fish did of flying.

She was constantly kept away from him by her guards, who were no doubt under orders from her father. He nearly got his ass jyuukened when he got too close to her one day after classes were over, and since then he forced himself to be content with watching her from afar.

Soon after, he'd developed his goofy outward persona, and he got especially happy whenever Hinata giggled at the jokes he made. It brought a warm feeling to his chest, knowing she didn't judge him like the rest did. By maintaining the illusion that he wanted nothing to do with her, the security around her laxed as her clan resorted to sending the then chuunin, Yuuhi Kurenai, to guard her to school and back.

Lost in thoughts of the past, he just stared at the orange ball's movement while thinking of the problems he was having while using the Chakra Pulse technique.

'Back, forth, back, forth… Hold on a second, that's it!' his mind was racing as inspiration for something new struck him. He had just about enough time to try it too.

'It's just crazy enough to work!' he thought, as he got up and, forming the familiar cross-shaped seal, he made two kage bunshin that set out immediately to the spots he'd thought of in his mind.

It only took a few minutes before he was on the far side of Konoha, himself and the three clones forming a square that was encompassing a lot of the grounds that made up the village.

'Okay, any moment now!' The wide blasts of his chakra coming from the two separate directions in the far distance were easily felt and he began to focus as well. All the bouncing and colliding chakra gave him exactly what he needed from the beginning, a three dimensional image of most of the population in Konoha. Everyone, everywhere, every second they breathed.

The civilians were easily to tell apart from the ninja due to the fact that any chakra they had was exclusively used to stay alive. The features of the ninja were, in nearly every case, well defined. Enough that he could make out their faces in the strange sensation he got of his mind jumping from one person's image to the other. It almost felt like he was watching every person from some kind of spiritual eye.

He was never more glad that he took the time to know the ins and outs of the village all those years ago while planning escape routes. Since he couldn't see the solid objects in the paths of the colliding waves, he had to rely on his mental map of where streets, paths and sometimes small stretches of forest were.

lool

Kakashi was fairly surprised when he saw his blond student send clones out into a triangular formation around most of the village, but what nearly got his eye to pop out of its socket were the HUMONGOUS pulses that seemed to pass through the village like an ethereal blanket. He had no doubt that other high-level jounin like himself had felt that, maybe even the Hyuuga and Sasuke if he had his sharingan active at the time.

'What is that boy up to?' he wondered, and then it suddenly hit him.

What Naruto was doing was pure genius! No one had ever thought of using the technique is such a manner.

The Chakra Pulse's biggest weakness, in his opinion, was its inability to penetrate a person's aura to identify the features underneath. But by synchronizing more than two of the rebounding echoes, Naruto had given the Pulse enough strength to make out the features of an individual by bouncing off the higher concentration of chakra just under their skin! On top of that, due to the chakra used being figuratively from one source the image painted was a three dimensional one!

Not even he would have thought of trying to bypass the pulse-at-a-time rule when using it.

If he was within the area being scanned, Naruto would have seen his sensei's jaw drop in astonishment and complete awe of his new ability.

'Yet, they called him the deadlast…' Kakashi now held even more respect for his, undisputedly, most resourceful student. Seeing him standing in complete concentration like he was, with his hair being ruffled slightly by the wind, it was like watching a ghost of his sensei. He could just imagine how similar the two would be if Naruto were to be wearing a white battle coat like the now deceased Yondaime did.

lool

Kusuri felt the blasts of chakra when he was still meditating, waiting for the last few minutes of his operation to come to pass. Once he got in control of his anger, he'd realized that Hinata wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, so any chances of brainwashing her had been thrown out the window. Just as he was considering carrying out the suicidal part of his plan, he sensed the queer actions of the jinchuuriki.

Admittedly, if he wasn't a sensory type by nature he might have missed it but the force of the energy came clearly to him. The large sheets of chakra completely messed up his focus.

'What was that?' he thought, as he considered leaving the still unconscious heiress to investigate the anomaly. That didn't feel like any technique he knew of in Konoha.

He was spared confusion when he felt the Kyuubi kid's chakra nearing the shack.

'How did he manage to find me!'

lool

Of all the places he could have begun searching, why did he have to overlook this one? Naruto would have smacked himself on the head if he could for not thinking of the little shed near which he'd graduated to gennin. He had immediately rushed to the area once he identified the soft features of Hinata's face and hair. It had taken less than three minutes of using the newly created, **Me o motomeru/Seeking eye **to isolate the one he was looking for, partly through the help of his chakra working through his thoughts (think Chakra Search Engine).

Now, he was on his way to confront the punk who thought he could get away with capturing one of his friends.

The kage bunshin that blasted the door off its hinges was met with a fierce backhand that destroyed it on the spot. Rushing in through the smoke from the dispelled clone, Naruto connected his fist to the chest of his opponent and was pleased to hear the "Oomph!" that confirmed the hit.

He didn't expect to suddenly be punched in the back, but he broke his momentum with the floor by rolling away. Springing up, he swung the kunai in his hand that was hastily grabbed and met a rude shock when the longer arm of his assailant and the scalpel it held ripped through the flesh of his shoulder. He was just barely able to lessen the damage by tilting his head back.

'No.' All that training, and he nearly got his head skewered because his arm was shorter than his opponent's! He jumped back to give himself some space while the youki in his system repaired his wound.

"Why the hell are you doing this! What do you have to gain?" he tried to stall for time. He could feel his skin slowly knitting together.

The kidnapper was slightly agitated. Kusuri had sensed the former ANBU captain, Hatake Kakashi, fast approaching the area, and he wasn't planning to stick around long enough to experience the power of the famed Copy Ninja.

Naruto's question made his anger boil up again. This demon turned human had ruined everything! He should have just done everything himself instead on relying on him to bring himself down.

With a snarl, and completely ignoring what the other fighter was saying, he made the handseals for a long-range shunshin out of the area. He would deal with the Kyuubi brat another day.

Naruto was fairly surprised to see his foe turn tail and run like he did. That is, until Kakashi stepped into view from the shadows clapping slowly.

"Nicely handled, Naruto. You found Hinata when all odds were against you and you kept her safe when you did." The man drawled out in his lazy voice. Only then did Naruto realize he was standing directly in front of an unconscious figure, making it look like he had been protecting her from the man dressed in a jounin outfit.

He quickly covered his surprise and chose to yell at his sensei, "What the hell! So this WAS one of your fucked up tests!"

Kakashi just waved off his frustration in a flippant manner, "No. I just followed you after you said you were looking for Hinata. I didn't know she had been kidnapped until we got here." He stopped for a moment to look around the shed. "It's too bad he got away before I could get here." He mumbled. He really was upset that he wasn't able to get here in time. He knew how serious a threat this was, someone blinded by their hate for the Kyuubi wasn't something new, but to take it so far as to kidnap the daughter of the head of one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha? This would need some serious looking into with the hokage later.

Naruto had turned his attention to the unconscious girl and freed her of the ropes on her arms and feet. The material was some kind that restricted chakra flow in someone, making them unable to use it. He frowned at that. This wasn't standard issue. Only someone high up in the ranks or a war veteran would have access to this kind of thing.

Stowing away the length of rope after giving it another closer look, he protectively cradled Hinata's smaller body and gingerly touched the burns on her wrists that were caused by friction when struggling against her binds. Tears, unbidden, nearly fell from his eyes.

Someone had dared hurt one of the people he cared about. This certainly didn't sit well with him, and he would have gone on a rampage had he not known that the fox in him would have taken advantage of his rage to try and control him, like it did in Wave.

"Naruto," Kakashi's voice interrupted his murderous thoughts. "You should take Hinata to hospital, so we can know if anything was done to her." He nodded firmly but hesitated slightly after picking up the girl, bridal style. The enquiring look he gave Kakashi prompted his unspoken question to be answered.

"I'll take care of things here, and make the report for the hokage."

"You'll need this then," he handed over the threat note which Kakashi immediately studied. "Judging by the time limit, I'm guessing he wanted something from Hinata, though I'm not sure what."

Satisfied that his teacher would handle things, Naruto wasted no time in heading out of the shack and into the general direction of the Konoha Hospital. Out of the view of the jounin, his thoughts gained sad note as he sped through the thick undergrowth of the tiny stretch of forest.

'How can I protect the people I care for if something like this happens again?'

lool

A.N: Yea, yea. Some might think this was kinda boring, but I don't care. Just in case you're wondering, no, there are no pairings yet in the story. And there's an obvious reason the bad guy got away. I apologize, I was listening to some songs from the Naruto soundtrack when writing this, so my mind was a little fogged up at the time.

Let me clarify a few things that my beloved readers didn't fully understand.

Naginator: Having a bijuu stuck to your soul isn't by any means 'cool'. Also, there's more to life than being the strongest in my Narutoverse and did you not read the explanation behind how he would be denied a family, something he's always wanted to have? Here, put yourself in his shoes for a moment… Good, now give 'em back!

Cobra0000: I know you understand the kind of work a hokage has to do, and despite the affection Hiruzen has for him, first and foremost, he is a jinchuuriki and a very touchy subject. The welfare of the entire village and not just one kid rests on his decisions. Remember, Kakashi won't teach where he does not see potential, the guy didn't even want a team in the first place!

Cobra0000: Yes, people have learned to associate Naruto with yellow and orange, so, for a number of years, they have not felt the need to look at his face to know it's him. Hiding your overly colorful hair and clothes is enough of a disguise on its own. People focus on your clothes the first time they see you, not your face. Don't know why, it's freaky if you ask me.

Cobra0000: Wow, you sure have a lot of questions, don't ya? He _has_ eaten healthier food ever since he came back. Before, he didn't care and just guzzled the ramen, like a kid does when his parents aren't around to tell him to stop eating sweets. It's now his comfort food and a once in a while treat, kind of like pizza and ice-cream rolled into one, or whatever takes your cake. Mmm, cake…

InARealPickle: Good argument, I'm not offended. Here's my counter, this is a fanfiction story. Normal canon rules don't have to be followed. I actually did some research and things are pretty sketchy when it comes to the issue. Apparently, Naruto was born with whisker marks 'cos his mom's a jinchuuriki. Kinkaku and Ginkaku had the same and there's no record they got kids or even lovers.

The seal responds to his _will_ meaning subconscious thoughts and feelings are included. For the longest time he wanted to be normal like everyone else and a part of him continued to. At the same time he accepts the healing as an advantage. In effect, the seal can't decide if he wants the converted youki or not so it's stuck between normal and low rates. Please understand that not everyone thinks it's badass to be different from everyone else. Thanks for pointing out the spelling mistakes though.

(gasp!)Enough ranting! I hope that clears a few things up. I really like that someone's asking me to clarify things. People have to learn from their mistakes, I'm no exception. Keep reading, I really appreciate those that take an interest in this story. Cheers!


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